Torrents were seen tearing through roads and sweeping away cars in flash floods that have killed at least two people.
Apocalyptic footage shows roads turned into rivers as swelling water carries several submerged vehicles along.
Thunder and lightning is seen crackling overhead as rescuers desperately try to pull drivers from the rising murky floodwater.
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It came as torrential rain battered Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, overnight on Saturday (November 7), leaving homes, businesses and infrastructure badly damaged.
Among those killed were a five-year-old child and a 24-year-old adult, reports say.
Rescue crews were deployed to respond to the flooding across the autonomous city as officials took stock of the mounting destruction, as reported by Need To Know.
Erbil’s governor confirmed the deaths, while preliminary estimates put the financial damage at tens of millions of dollars.
The city recorded around 70mm of rainfall in just 24 hours, according to the Kurdistan Region Meteorological Department.
Neighbouring Halabja received even more rain, recording 80.6mm over the same period, but escaped comparable destruction.
Criticism has been levelled against officials over Erbil’s drainage system, with some questioning whether the rapidly expanding city is equipped to cope with extreme weather events.
The disaster has also triggered a political row, with rival Kurdish media outlets trading accusations over the management of the city’s infrastructure.
Critics have called for greater investment in drainage systems and improved urban planning to prevent similar disasters.
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