Rainstorms that have battered the Syrian coast over the past two days have left some public and private facilities in Latakia city without service due to floodwaters and floodwaters that have flooded the streets and floors of dozens of buildings.
As a result of the damage caused by the heavy rains, Latakia Governor, Engineer Amir Ismail Hilal, announced the closure of schools on Sunday.
In a statement to a local radio station, Latakia City Council Chairman Hussain Zengerli said Sunday was the height of Latakia's depression and “we have prepared for it with great preparation” and urged residents to slow down the movement. In the rainy season.
Local sources in Latakia reported that the floods caused extensive damage to farms and livestock in villages and countryside, and that cars and dozens of terraced houses in the city were damaged in Al-Kanjara area, Al-Jumhuriya Street, Project B, Al-Zaqaniyya, Al-Azhari Roundabout and Al-Raml al -Janoby.
Activists have released shocking pictures and video clips of floods rushing through a gas filling unit at the “Singwan Gas Plant” in Latakia, halting operations there and sweeping away around 36,238 domestic and commercial gas cylinders. All but 744 cylinders are still being sought.
Laboratory #Gas “Singwan” in Latakia will be operational in few hours. “Fuel and Gas” Latakia has 52 thousand industrial cylinders for testing. Oil and Mineral Resources Minister Dr Firas Kattur said maintenance workshops repairing the damage were almost complete. Gas plant. #Sanjuan In Latakia#Syria #syria_bulletin pic.twitter.com/KM5HjSCYB9
— The Syrian Post (@TheSyrianPost) February 17, 2024
The official Syrian News Agency (SANA) also announced (Sunday) that the plant would be restarted, citing Oil Minister Firaz Kattoor as saying maintenance workshops had repaired the damage to the plant. Many of the gas cylinders in the plant were swept away.
Images of thousands of gas cylinders floating in the river have sparked outrage and anger among Syrians who have been hit by a severe crisis in domestic gas availability. Heavy criticism and accusations of creating a crisis on the government and the oil ministry were revealed by the presence of large number of gas cylinders, flooding and availability of gas in the black market. Double price.
In a statement to the local media, the oil minister justified that the oil ministry had signed a contract for the supply of 125,000 industrial gas cylinders and started receiving their numbers from the end of last month. The first batch of 52,000 cylinders has been received and the ministry has stored 16,000 cylinders at Latakia fuel branch and 36,000 cylinders at the gas sector and the delivery process is still going on indicating that the cylinders have to complete the required documents. As Sana reported from the minister, it was distributed to the governorates and sold to industrial and commercial companies.
Every winter coastal areas receive rainfall that floods the streets, but this winter's heavy rainfall, which reached 132 millimeters, exposed the weakness of the rain fronts and their inability to absorb more rainfall. This resulted in the worst rainfall and floods in many years.
Amid fears of overflowing dams in Latakia governorate due to continued rains, Latakia's director of water resources, Mahmoud Al-Qader, assured the people that the water level in the dams has reached 65 percent, which is within its normal range. The current extreme protection is in proportion. In an interview with local Shaam FM radio, he said, “There is no sign of any danger, especially since the mouths of the dams are within very wide bodies of water… There is no need for any fear.”
There are 14 dams in Latakia Governorate, including two major dams namely “The Revolution Dam” and “16 Tishreen Dam.” The rest of the dams are small.
