NEWS DESK
\nSYRIA
\nTorrential rains have washed away hundreds of tents in camps sheltering displaced Syrians in the north of the war-wracked country, aid groups have said, as residents pleaded for help.
\n\u201cOn December 26… hundreds of tents were washed away in Atme, Dana, Sarmada and Qah in the northern countryside of Idlib,\u201d the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations said in a statement Thursday.
\n\u201cMany shelters, food and water stocks were ruined by flooding,\u201d it said.
\nIn the Omar camp in the town of Atme near the Turkish border, two days of heavy rains flooded flimsy plastic tents and turned nearby fields into pools of mud, said an AFP correspondent, who toured the area on Thursday.
\nResidents of the makeshift homes said the deluge destroyed their few belongings, including bedding, leaving them with nothing as temperatures plunged below zero.
\n\u201cMy tent has been flooded and the waters have carried away the mattresses and the carpets we used to sleep on,\u201d said Umm Adi, a widow and mother of four, who had sought refuge from the seven-year conflict in Omar camp.
\n\u201cEven the spoons and the food are gone,\u201d she told AFP.
\n\u201cEverything was lost in the floods. We have nothing left.\u201d
\nTens of thousands of displaced Syrians in the north of the country depend on handouts from humanitarian aid groups, including food, blankets and heating fuel, to survive the cold winter climate.
\nSince 2011, Syria s war has killed more than 360,00 people and caused more than half the country s population to flee their homes.
\nFiras al-Modhi, 18, who fled the town of Halfaya in the central Hama province, also saw his family s tent in Omar camp destroyed by the downpour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEWS DESK SYRIA Torrential rains have washed away hundreds of tents in camps sheltering displaced Syrians in the north of the war-wracked country, aid groups have said, as residents pleaded for help. \u201cOn December 26… hundreds of tents were washed away in Atme, Dana, Sarmada and Qah in the northern countryside of Idlib,\u201d the Union […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n