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Lebanon's first heavy downpour claims one life

An 80-year-old man with a disability was found dead Monday after having gone missing in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut on Sunday, the Civil Defense confirms

Lebanon's first heavy downpour claims one life

Heavy rainfall lead to floods submerging cars and threatening lives Sunday evening. (Credit: Lebanese Civil Defense/@CivilDefenseLB)

BEIRUT — Weakened by three years of crisis, Lebanon finds itself, once again, ill-prepared for winter storms. Intense rainfall severely flooded large swathes of Lebanon's low-altitude coastal areas Sunday evening, prompting many requests for assistance and rescue, with one elderly man with a disability found dead Monday after having gone missing the night before, according the Lebanese Civil Defense.

The Civil Defense conducted rescue operations on Sunday night to evacuate civilians trapped in cars that were submerged in rising waters, and drew out water from several residential buildings and warehouses in the northern coastal areas, the rescue team said on Twitter.

One man found dead

The torrential downpour drifted away a family's car in the Zouk Mosbeh area, north of Beirut, with only a woman and her son managing to survive the incident, while the 80-year-old father, an army retiree with a disability, was swept away by the heavy floods as the son tried to pull him out of the car, Maroun Srour, the spokesperson for the Civil Defense, explained to L'Orient Today. The Maritime Rescue Unit in the Civil Defense, with the support of army units and the nearby Civil Defense's centers, searched for the missing man, identified by the initials R.M., throughout the night. His body was found Monday around 9:30 a.m., around a kilometer from the location from which he went missing.

Meanwhile, heavy rain also caused damage to the national power grid. Electricité du Liban said in a statement Sunday evening that water managed to leak into the Zouk Mikael plant, one of the country's largest, which already runs at minimum capacity, causing it to totally shut down. EDL assured that its team, with the help of the Civil Defense, is "working to remove water from the plant to then determine the damages and work to restart it and connect it to the public network again." EDL's spokesperson was not available immediately for a comment or an update on the matter.

Hamieh distances himslef

Caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh said in a tweet that the ministry's team of contractors has since last night been removing trash that is blocking drains. The minister noted that it should be kept in mind "that this is not their role at all." Hamieh also claimed that his team "had begun a month ago to clean the sewage pipes, while the ministry is still appealing to municipalities and waste removal contractors to remove [the trash] and assume its complementary role with the ministry’s teams.” Hamieh's spokesperson was not available immediately for further comment on the matter.

Later Monday, caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh during a press conference distanced himself and his ministry from full responsibility for what caused the floods on public highways.

Hamieh said that the Council for Development and Reconstruction, a Lebanese governmental organization, "assigned two companies, one for waste collection and the other for [waste] sweeping," adding that "the Public Works Ministry, the Union of Municipalities, waste removal companies and the Energy Ministry must work together."

The minister also said "it is unacceptable for towns to stand idly by, and all staff must work together, and the citizens must hold each official accountable." Hamieh added that "the roads belong to the Public Works Ministry but there are those who are harming them … and [lack of] money must not be an excuse to leave things as they are."

BEIRUT — Weakened by three years of crisis, Lebanon finds itself, once again, ill-prepared for winter storms. Intense rainfall severely flooded large swathes of Lebanon's low-altitude coastal areas Sunday evening, prompting many requests for assistance and rescue, with one elderly man with a disability found dead Monday after having gone missing the night before, according the Lebanese Civil...