BBC News, 7 January 2014
A fierce winter storm has brought freezing temperatures to the Middle East, raising worries about the plight of the millions of refugees there.
Snow has fallen in the mountains around Lebanon`s Bekaa Valley, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians live.
With icy winds blowing, there have been attempts to anchor tents more securely, and prepare for flooding.
The UN is also extremely concerned about the situation in Jordan, where it is distributing extra blankets.
More than 7.6 million people have been displaced inside Syria since the uprising began in 2011, while more than 3.3 million have fled abroad.
Makeshift Shelters
The winter storm, forecast to last several days, has brought snowfall and freezing temperatures to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey. Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have also been affected.
In Lebanon`s Bekaa Valley, where tens of thousands of refugees are living in tents, and many others in unfinished or unheated buildings, the snow blocked roads and forced many businesses to close.
Refugees in informal settlements are very cold. Most of them are staying inside their tents to keep warm next to the heating stove, UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abou Khaled told the BBC.
Some are wiping the snow off the roof of their makeshift tents because they are worried that they might collapse under the weight of the snow.
At the scene: Paul Wood, BBC News, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon:
One of the tents - used as a schoolroom - has collapsed from the weight of snow. The main street of the camp is a lake of dirty, icy water. Children stand around, seemingly dressed more for summer than for winter. Some even wear flip-flops.
We are in a makeshift refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. Even after four years as refugees, people are still living under plastic sheeting. Conditions are miserable.
One man shows us water leaking through the roof. We meet a family with seven children huddling around a wood burning stove. The two latest additions to the family are twin babies, born three days ago. The mother looks exhausted, wrapped in a blanket on the floor.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are living like this in Lebanon. The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has provided emergency winter aid or one kind or another to some 660,000 people in Lebanon. No one thinks this fourth winter away from home will be the last for the refugees.
Ms Abou Khaled said the UNHCR and its partners began their preparations for the winter in early October and had so far reached 75% of the families targeted.
The charity Oxfam said it was also worried that tents would be flooded when the snow melts and that refugees would not have proper access to clean water for days.
A Red Cross source told the AFP news agency that the bodies of a Syrian man and a six-year-old boy were found in Ain al-Joz, in the mountains of southern Lebanon. A Lebanese security source said they were overcome by the cold while trying to enter the country on foot.
The Palestinian Authority also declared a state of emergency in the West Bank and Gaza, where tens of thousands of people lost their homes during the war between Israel and Palestinian militants last year.
An eight-month-old baby was killed in a fire caused by a heater in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a civil defence ministry spokesman told the Associated Press.
There was also heavy snowfall in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. Schools in Jerusalem, to the south, also closed.
In Syria, traffic was brought to a near standstill in the capital Damascus, and the education ministry said schools and universities would not open.
Original article with photos and map.
Winter Storm Huda hits Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan
UNRWA, 8 January 2015
How is the storm impacting refugees in the area?
Huda – a powerful winter storm dumped snow, heavy rain, high winds and hail across the Middle East, effecting thousands of refugees across Lebanon and Jordan. Many are struggling to keep warm, protect their shelters and hide from the plummeting temperatures.
Click here for the latest updates on how UNHCR is providing life-saving winter supplies and photos from inside the refugee camps.
Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley Blanketed in Snow
UNHCR field staff say Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley was blanketed in snow on Wednesday morning, cutting off roads and affecting tens of thousands of refugees – many of whom live in makeshift shelters in more than 850 informal settlements set up in vacant lots, abandoned buildings, garages, sheds and on farmland.
Syrian refugees remove snow from their shelters at an informal
tented settlement in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon during a blizzard earlier today.
Some refugees are managing to get through the storm to UNHCR’s registration center in the town of Zahle, where they are being processed by staff. Others spent the day huddling around heaters or scraping snow from the roofs of their shelters to stave off collapse. There are reports of damaged homes in informal settlements, where makeshift shelters have collapsed under the weight of snow.
Conditions have been particularly bad in Arsal and its outskirts, where altitudes range from 1,300 to 1,400 metres. Six emergency shelters have been set up where UNHCR partners are ready to receive families leaving tented sites, and local municipalities are clearing roads. Across the Bekaa Valley, UNHCR and partners are working to provide people with materials to repair shelters. Plans are also under way to replace blankets, mattresses and other items that have been damaged.
UNHCR began its winter aid distribution in Lebanon last October, focusing on helping the most vulnerable refugees with cash, stoves and blankets. Winter support also includes fuel vouchers to help people living above 500 metres, including many of those now blanketed by snow in the Bekaa Valley. Plastic sheeting, wood and basic tools to help keep accommodation well insulated have been distributed to almost 250,000 people living in unfinished buildings and informal settlements.
While much winter aid has been provided, UNHCR remains concerned. “Despite our best efforts, the situation in Lebanon remains precarious for refugees given the extremely poor conditions in which they live and the scattered nature of the population,” UNHCR Representative to Lebanon Ninette Kelley said. “It is a constant challenge to ensure that refugees across more than 1,700 localities remain safe and warm throughout the winter months and have sufficient resources to withstand severe storms.”
Elsewhere in the country, bad weather is affecting refugees living on Mount Lebanon, in Beirut and in the north and south of the country. There are reports that more than 100 tents have been blown over by strong winds in the south of the country.
UNHCR’s 600 staff across five offices in Lebanon are working through the storms, although road closures are affecting some operations. The refugee agency continues to work with partners and local municipalities to map needs and coordinate responses. In preparation for the storm, UNHCR reinforced its contingency stocks of fuel, blankets, wood and shelter materials and put inter-agency teams on standby for emergency responses.
Za’atari Camp Preps for Winter Storm Huda
Meanwhile in Jordan, snow began falling on Za’atari camp around midday on Wednesday following earlier snowfall in Jerash, Irbid and Ajloun as well as other locations with high numbers of refugees. The capital, Amman, is also receiving snow.
In preparation for the icy conditions brought by storm Huda, UNHCR has started distributing 20,000 blankets to refugees from Iraq, Somalia and Sudan across Jordan. On Wednesday, UNHCR also distributed 29,000 blankets donated by the United Arab Emirates to Syrian refugees, many of whom live in precarious conditions and are ill prepared for the sub-zero temperatures.
UNHCR’s registration centres in Jordan remain open despite the bad weather, and UNHCR’s helpline for refugees is fully functioning.
In Azraq and Za’atari camps, a campaign informing refugees of looming storms is under way, and advice provided on safe use of heaters and stoves. Additional blankets are also on their way to Azraq. Emergency shelters are in place in Za’atari, where 20 per cent of the population still lives in tents, although there has been no move to these shelters yet.
To help vulnerable refugees living in urban and rural areas survive the winter, UNHCR has given a winter cash grant to 27,000 refugee families to cover essential needs such as heating costs.
UNHCR on Wednesday, meanwhile, deployed more than 60 field staff to monitor the situation in sites around Jordan, address the concerns of refugees and organize distribution of additional aid where needed.
10 Gazans Injured by Winter Storm “Huda”
World Bulletin, 8 January 2014
At least ten Palestinians were injured in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a winter storm, dubbed Huda, hit the embattled coastal enclave, Gaza`s civil defense department said.
Civil defense personnel treated eight injured people on the spot while two others were taken to hospital for treatment, department chief Said al-Saudi told The Anadolu Agency.
Most of the injuries were minor, caused by flying debris from homes destroyed during Israel`s deadly summer offensive, he said.
Dozens of Palestinian families have already left their homes in several parts of the coastal strip in expectation of flooding amid an ongoing cold snap.
Residents of flood-prone areas vacated their homes after local authorities warned that the area was in danger of being flooded with rainwater and sewage.
Gaza City`s local authorities have said the anticipated cold spell could cause a humanitarian disaster, as the city`s war-battered infrastructure could not withstand heavy rainfall.
Already underdeveloped as a result of Israel`s seven-year blockade, the strip`s rickety infrastructure sustained further damage during Israel`s 51-day military onslaught in July and August.
In December of 2013, thousands of Gazan families were displaced when a severe cold snap and torrential rains flooded entire neighborhoods.
Over 2,160 Palestinians were killed, and some 11,000 injured, during Israel`s seven-week summer offensive, which, according to Palestinian government figures, also cost the Gaza Strip an estimated $5 billion.
Photo: Snow-covered refugee shelters in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Source: BBC News.
