LONDON: Municipal workers were out in force in Baghdad at the weekend to pump water out of flooded urban and rural areas after the nation was hit by torrential rains, the state-run Iraq News Agency reported.
The municipality said it had mobilized all its workers and was working at maximum capacity across the capital, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and Civil Defense.
Municipality spokesman Mohammed Al-Rubaie said the past 45 days has seen above-average rainfall, with the meteorology directorate announcing that it had fallen at 70 millimeters per hour.
“It is rare for the capital, Baghdad, to be exposed to such an amount of rain,” he said.
Al-Rubaie added that Baghdad’s mayoral office was working with the Ministry of Electricity and the heads of 15 municipalities to facilitate the movement of vehicles and citizens.
He said that most of the areas had been cleared by Saturday morning, but work would continue to deal with flooding around main public transport lines and stations in the east and west of the city, which would take “a certain amount of time.”
He noted that “some areas have run out of water, while others will run out.”
Al-Rubaie said the municipality was facing a challenge to clear flood-hit homes in rural areas. This could only be done once the main areas were sorted out.
He stressed that efforts would continue over the weekend, with all emergency teams on standby.
