Floodwaters submerged about 2,500 dunams of farmland in Deir Ezzor and damaged crops in neighboring Raqqa, agricultural officials told state news agency SANA on Monday.
Mohammad Issa al-Khalifa, head of al-Kubar’s Agricultural Extension Unit, said the flooded land included cereal and vegetable fields and olive trees. The affected area is equivalent to 250 hectares. Authorities have begun documenting losses.
In northern Raqqa, initial inspections in Bir al-Hashm found about 1,000 dunams of cotton affected, with estimated losses of 30% to 35%, said agricultural official Abdullah al-Afar. Another 800 dunams of maize suffered losses exceeding 40%, he said.
The estimates remain preliminary. Farmers called for compensation and better drainage, but the report did not announce a compensation package.
Source: SANA.
File photo: A street in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, on May 26, 2008. Not the flooded farmland or current weather conditions. Photo: Cristian Iohan Ştefănescu / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
