How Syria Managed Rescue, Aid, and Recovery After February’s Floods

When the waters rose in early February, they swept through displacement camps, villages, and farmland in northwest Syria with devastating speed. For families like Nour’s—already displaced once by war—the floods meant losing everything again.

“I had already lost everything once before,” said Nour, whose name has been changed at her request. Years earlier, fighting forced her family to flee their home in Aleppo’s countryside. “When we fled our home in Aleppo back in 2014, I was only 13 and couldn’t even save a single doll. Just as I couldn’t carry anything back then, I couldn’t carry anything when my home got flooded two weeks ago.”

Her tent in Idlib’s Karamah displacement camp was washed away in a single night, along with her few pieces of furniture and clothing. “The neighbors told me to run quickly, and I had to save myself and my child.”

The Scale of Disaster

Torrential rains on February 7 swept through Idlib, Latakia, and Hama provinces, inundating camps, homes, and farmland. Within two days, at least 1,850 tents were damaged and 149 destroyed, according to the UN humanitarian office OCHA. Floodwaters reached 21 displacement sites, affecting about 5,300 people and submerging entire shelters.

The impact extended beyond camps. In Latakia’s Qastal Maaf district, at least 30 homes were damaged. Forty-seven houses were affected in Idlib province. Two children were killed in northern Latakia, swept away in a rugged valley. A Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer died attempting to rescue stranded residents, and six other staff were injured when their vehicle slid into a valley en route to assist.

Infrastructure damage deepened the crisis. Two bridges collapsed in Jabal Al-Turkman, severing access between 15 villages and forcing residents into journeys of more than two hours instead of minutes. Surging water levels—exceeding 450 cubic meters per second—carried debris that clogged a dam and forced water to spill over, eroding land and blocking roads. Overwhelmed drainage systems worsened flooding in nearby areas.

Essential services strained. Ain Al-Bayda hospital in Idlib was forced out of service, with patients transferred to facilities elsewhere.

The Response

The flooding became an early test for Syria’s interim government, in power just over a year following more than a decade of civil war. Authorities and humanitarian organizations launched coordinated relief efforts.

An emergency committee was formed, and joint assessment missions surveyed affected camps on February 8. By February 9, the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management reported that civil defense teams had:

• Conducted search and rescue operations
• Evacuated residents from high-risk areas
• Prioritized drainage work and road rehabilitation
• Opened displacement shelters near Kherbet Al-Jouz and in northern Latakia

Authorities identified 1,500 available housing units in Afrin and 100 in Latakia. By February 12, dozens of families had been evacuated from six displacement camps in western Idlib. In total, 173 families were relocated from camps in Idlib’s Badama and Khirbet Al-Jouz to temporary shelter centers.

Emergency teams conducted drainage operations, cleared culverts within camps, reopened more than 25 roads and 30 water channels, and removed five earthen berms in preparation for further weather systems.

Aid agencies coordinated with local authorities to deliver multi-sector assistance, relocating affected households, repairing and replacing tents, and distributing essential supplies.

A Vulnerable Population

Despite the rapid response, the scale of need remains immense. The UN refugee agency estimates 7.4 million people remain internally displaced in Syria, with most concentrated in the northwest. Camps cluster along the Syria-Turkey border, particularly in the Harim area and the Atma-Qah-Sarmada-Al-Dana belt. About 88 percent of shelter sites in Idlib are informal, self-settled camps, often built on private or agricultural land.

Conditions are precarious. Medecins Sans Frontieres described shelters as “extremely fragile,” with displaced people “exposed to the cold, wind, and snow.” Residents say returning home is often impossible.

“All the camps around us are in very bad condition, but they do not have the ability to return to their hometowns,” said Hajem Al-Asaad, a displaced resident in the Harim Mountains. “Even if you own land, you cannot live on barren land—you need a home. Our homes are destroyed. I need at least $500 to $1,000 just to make basic repairs.”

Ongoing Recovery

Humanitarian support expanded alongside emergency response. The Syrian government deployed mobile medical teams and ambulances across Idlib. More than two tonnes of medicines and emergency supplies were delivered to local health authorities.

In Latakia, damaged infrastructure is gradually being restored. A key bridge connecting Atira and Kalaz has been rehabilitated. Road clearance projects are helping residents return.

Compounding Crises

The floods underscore a deeper vulnerability. About 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index ranks Syria among the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, with limited capacity to respond to environmental shocks.

In the first two months of 2026 alone, Syria experienced both severe snowstorms and widespread flooding. These crises layer on the legacy of 14 years of conflict, which devastated homes, infrastructure, and essential services. In Daraa province alone, more than 95,000 homes were damaged during the war, including 33,400 completely destroyed. Nationwide, electricity generation has fallen sharply, leaving most areas with only a few hours of state power each day.

For Nour, and Millions Like Her

For Nour, the war may no longer dominate headlines, but its consequences remain immediate. When the floodwaters rose, there was little left to save. She survived. Her child survived. But everything else—the tent, the furniture, the clothing—was washed away, just like the dolls she couldn’t carry as a 13-year-old fleeing Aleppo.

The floods have receded. The recovery continues. And for millions of Syrians, the struggle to survive, to rebuild, to hope—it goes on.

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