Rains and Floods are Making Gaza More Miserable Than Ever

Over the past several days, Gaza has been hit with heavy rains and severe flooding, and I want to share what this has meant for the people living through it, and for our teams trying to respond.

The most devastating impact has been on the thousands of families sheltering in makeshift camps. Entire sections of these camps have been swallowed by rising water. Floods have swept through low-lying areas, carrying away tents and what little people managed to hold onto. Along the shoreline, strong winds tore through already fragile shelters, leaving families exposed to the cold.

Our infrastructure, already shattered by two years of bombardments, simply cannot cope. The stormwater drainage network is destroyed in most places, so rainwater has nowhere to go. Streets are broken, cratered or buried beneath debris. Pools of water now sit between the shells of collapsed buildings, turning neighborhoods into dangerous, impassable terrain.

We have no functioning machinery or equipment left to help pump water or clear pathways. Every response effort becomes a manual, improvised struggle.

The cold has been brutal, especially for children. Families lack warm clothing, blankets and adequate shelter, and the health consequences are growing by the day. Medical staff around Gaza have detected pneumonia among children, brought on by the freezing temperatures and constant dampness. We’re also deeply concerned about the spread of waterborne diseases, which we know will follow this kind of flooding.

Yesterday, both of Anera’s primary health clinics in Khan Younis and Der Al Balah were forced to close temporarily. It wasn’t a decision we took lightly. The storm made it difficult for people to reach the facilities safely. Our kitchen in Khan Younis also had to stop operations when the entire cooking area – already in a low-lying zone – flooded. The makeshift camps that depend on that kitchen for hot meals were underwater, and several of our cooks and workers, who live in those camps themselves, were unable to leave their flooded shelters.

In moments like this, the challenges feel endless. But every day our teams get up and try again, to reopen the clinics, to restart the kitchen, to clear what can be cleared, to reach families who have run out of places to go. The rain will stop, but the hardship it has added to an already unbearable situation will not disappear quickly.

Still, we continue. And we will keep standing with the people of Gaza through every storm that comes. Learn about what Anera does every day in Gaza.