Baghdad under water

Menacing forks of lightening and cracks of thunder were the first portends of doom followed by an apocalyptic hailstorm that sent people diving for cover.
Then came the rain, turning the streets of Baghdad into rivers within minutes.

I was in a car waiting for an appointment yesterday when the freak hail stones, some the size of Brussels sprouts, started crashing down from the heavens. “The windscreen is going to crack,” yelled my driver. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
As we watched, the ice turned into water globules that spurted from the sky like jets from a power-shower in a posh hotel.
Houses and shops were flooded, cars broke down and pedestrians were forced to wade knee-deep through dirty water. One teenager died when an electric cable touched the puddle he was in, adding to the chaos.
Preferring to drive rather than swim home, I gave up on my appointment and asked my driver to exit the sodden car park where we had been waiting.
Unfortunately the centre of Baghdad now resembled a dirty version of Venice, with stinking canals of rain water littered with drink cartons and biscuit wrappers replacing what had been roads just half an hour earlier.
Floating with the rest of the traffic, we made our way slowly down a main shopping street. The water was about a foot high, lapping against the bottom of the car and threatening to spill in through the doors. Thankfully the rain stopped before the level rose much higher, but it had already caused havoc.

In Sadr City, a Shia slum in the east of the capital, a friend of mine was waiting at a relatives’ house for a wedding when the heavens opened.
“Most houses in Sadr City are below street level so the water immediately started to pour into the living room,” he said.
"Within two or three minutes it had reached the level of the couch. We had to stand on the chairs.”
Sewage washed out of the drains along with the rainwater.
“After 15 minutes, we gave up trying to stay dry and waded out of the room,” my friend said. The wedding reception was moved to another part of town.
A second man, Yunis Abu Mohamed, 55, was upset at the bad drainage system.

“I wonder about the declarations by officials of money spent on reconstruction projects in Sadr City. The only projects we saw were the planting of flowers and trees, which have just been killed by the flood of sewage,” he said.
Another local, Um Jabbar, 40, said rain always caused a problem.
“The street where I live in Sadr City has turned into a mass of mud,” the housewife said, worrying that her children will catch a disease. “When will the Government find a solution for a problem that is so silly yet so harmful?”
Not everyone was unhappy about the flood, with children seen splashing and laughing in the puddles.
Imad al-Azawi, a student in his early 20s, was surprised to see the water when he left university.
“There were small lakes here and there. Some of the students walked around them to reach the minibuses we catch to take us home. Others waded straight through,” he said. “I was pleased to see city labourers in orange overalls hard at work trying to clear the road.”
By this morning, most of the rain water had dried up and the sun was out again. Sadly there were still large puddles around the mayor's offices.

[Picture 1: Minibus makes waves in road of water;
Picture 2: Rain water floods Baghdad streets;
Picture 3: A shop owner uses a bucket to bale water out of shop;
Picture 4: Pedestrians role up trousers and wade through the river;
Picture 5: Some pedestrians tie plastic bags over their feet for protection;
Picture 6: Water outside the mayor's offices the next day;
Picture 7: A tree split in half by lightening.]

Comments

[neville weston]

But todays Times shows Venice looking like your yesterdays Bagdhad, Deborah. Just e mailed you a note saying my Samarra Shrine painting on show in london currently at The Mall gallery. I Havent thought of doing a water colour of bagdhad yet though.
Kind regards,
neville weston

[neville weston]

Oh It seems I have to do this again.
Again your photographs have a sense of authenticity and spontaneity.
Venice and Bagdhad linked visually today.
I did send a digital image of my Samarra painting which is on show in London till 8th Dec at Mall Gallery, but not sure if you get'ordinary' e mails. So again thanks for your elp and splendid blog material.
neville weston.