During the week of April 20th, several governorates in northern and central Iraq experienced heavy storms, causing severe flooding which damaged or destroyed the homes of many vulnerable families. Many of the families affected by the flooding had been living in squatter settlements in improvised shelters generally built out of mud and reeds, making them especially fragile and unable to withstand the flooding and heavy rains.
In cooperation with local authorities, the Governorate Emergency Cells (GECs), local mukhtars, NGOs, and other UN agencies on the ground, IOM field monitors assessed families in the Kerbala, Ninewa, Sulaymaniyah, and Erbil governorates. For families who experienced significant damage to their homes, assistance was provided in the form of non-food items (NFIs) such as bed frames, mattresses, blankets, pillows, plastic furniture, gas stoves, ice chests, and water pu-rifiers, as well as emergency tents to help alleviate the affects of such sudden displacement. Though assessments were conducted in Sulaymaniyah field monitors determined that families there were not in need of emergency assistance.
The following is an update regarding the situation on the ground and the assistance provided to date in Kerbala, Ninewa, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah. IOM field monitors continue to assess the situation and deliver emergency assistance, and up-dates will be provided as information becomes available.