KHARITA, Syria: Farmer Issa Al-Moussa walks among his damaged wheat crop in eastern Syria after the nearby Euphrates River flooded in recent days due to heavy rainfall and increased flows from Turkiye.
Syrian authorities have said the country was experiencing an “exceptional” rise in water levels along the Euphrates River, which originates in Turkiye and flows through the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces before reaching neighboring Iraq.
The water flooded fields and homes, took bridges and crossings out of service, and disrupted the operation of pumping stations for drinking water and irrigation.
“I plowed my land, which is 6,000 square meters in size, and each dunam cost me 1 million liras ($75) ... This land is lost,” Moussa said from his farmland, part of which was still submerged in water.
With his wheat crop destroyed, Moussa has no other source of income to feed his family.
