Floods wash out 5 villages, destroy bridge in Salah al-Din

SALAH AL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: Five villages have been washed out and a bridge was wrecked in Shirgat township of north-central Iraq’s Salah al-Din Province over the past 24 hours, a security source said on Monday. “Salah al-Din Province has declared a state of emergency due to the flooding of Tigris River, that washed out five villages and wrecked the bridge that connects the two sides of the river, passing through Shirgat township, where police forces helped to drive inhabitants of 70 houses to high areas in the province, to protect their lives,” Lt. Brigadier, Mahmoud Abdullah told IraqiNews.com news agency. He said the percentage of rise in the river’s water level has reached 4 meters in Mosul Dam, forcing the authorities to open its water into Tigris River, in order to ease out pressure on the dam, which was flooded due to heavy rainfalls over the past few days.   SKH (TP)/SR 551