Shafaq News- Duhok
Heavy rainfall swept through Sheikhan district in eastern Duhok on Sunday, flooding homes and roads and overwhelming aging drainage systems, a local official told Shafaq News.
Sheikhan’s Qaimaqam (district head) Sardar Sheikh Yahya Al-Barzanji explained that more than 70 millimeters of rain fell within a short period, submerging neighborhoods in water and mud and causing widespread material damage, though no casualties were recorded. “What happened is a natural disaster.”
The flooding, Al-Barzanji added, exposed long-standing deficiencies in the district’s sewage and drainage network, noting that municipal, security, and civil defense teams were deployed since early morning to evacuate residents, pump out floodwaters, and clear affected areas. “Government teams have begun assessing damage to homes and infrastructure,” Al-Barzanji said, pointing out that compensation falls under federal responsibility, alongside support from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Duhok authorities, and the Barzani Charity Foundation.
In recent months, heavy storms have triggered flash floods across parts of Duhok, Erbil, Nineveh, Kirkuk, and several central provinces, inundating residential areas, damaging farmland, and disrupting transport. Officials have frequently attributed the flooding to intense rainfall compounded by aging or incomplete drainage infrastructure.