DAMASCUS, October 30 (Aalimi Nation) – Flash floods across northern and eastern Syria have killed five people, including four children, and left five others missing, the country's Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said. The Syria flash floods followed days of thunderstorms with hail and strong winds.
Syria flash floods: deaths and missing
The ministry said the four children drowned in bodies of water in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor governorates. A man also died when his car was caught in floodwater near the al-Salmani Bridge in western Raqqa countryside. Five other people, among them two children, remain missing, according to the ministry, and search teams are still deployed.
The ministry issued its figures on Thursday evening, after the second day of flood response operations. It said the storms hit Raqqa, Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, eastern Homs, Hama and Aleppo, causing seasonal waterways to overflow. Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Hama, Homs and Latakia were listed among the affected provinces.
Bridges collapse and roads are cut
The state news agency said the al-Salmani Bridge, west of Tabqa, collapsed in the flooding, closing the road that links Raqqa with Aleppo. In Raqqa, the ministry said, seven bridges, culverts and unpaved roads were made unusable, including the Ratla, Al-Kantari and Al-Salmani bridges. Three bridges over seasonal waterways in Deir Ezzor were taken out of service. In Kasrat Surour in Raqqa, a collapsed earthen drainage crossing left more than 100 families surrounded by water.
Figures on rescues differ slightly between accounts. One account said emergency teams rescued 15 civilians from vehicles trapped by floodwater, while another said 25 people were rescued from floodwater or stranded vehicles across Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and Homs.
Camps evacuated
About 375 families were evacuated from three flooded displacement camps on the rural outskirts of Raqqa, the ministry said. The camps named were Sahlat Al-Banat, Al-Younani and Al-Maqass. The ministry also referred to a displacement camp in Hasakah, al-Talae, among the sites affected.
Syrian Civil Defense teams said they completed 165 emergency operations by 11.30 pm on Wednesday, after receiving more than 350 reports. Crews pumped water out of more than 150 homes and public facilities, among them two hospitals, schools and bakeries.
Flooding has repeatedly hit communities in Syria's north and east this year. In June, UNICEF reported that 17,000 people had been affected by flooding in 2026, with 700 families displaced and 49 water treatment plants in Deir Ezzor and Raqqa knocked out of service.
Rescue teams remain in the field to search for the missing, and the ministry said Civil Defense crews along Syria's coast were preparing for more heavy rain. The Raqqa–Aleppo road remains closed after the bridge collapse. The death toll and the number of missing could change as search operations continue and reports arrive from remote areas.
