Storm Brings More Misery to Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

A powerful snow storm has magnified the misery for Syrians who have fled the country's civil war to Lebanon, turning two camps into a swamp in the eastern Bekaa valley.

The two encampments were immersed in water after the Litani River flooded. Dozens of Syrian refugees were left in search of alternate shelter along with their soaked and muddy belongings.

Hiam al-Hussein, a 23-year-old from Syria's war ravaged Homs district of Baba Amr, was among a group of refugees who were sheltering in an open garage near the flooded al-Faour encampment.

"We had brought along with us a couple of mattresses, some carpets. Everything is gone now," she said, wearing a sweater, pajama pants and a pink scarf.

"God help the women and children. The river flooded last night and suddenly everything around us was swept away and swimming in water," said Abdullah Taleb, a refugee from the northern city of Aleppo who arrived in Lebanon three months ago with his wife and two children. "It's a nightmare we are living — a nightmare."

In the eastern Lebanese town of Marj near the Syrian border, refugees reinforced flooded tents, and some were blown away in the wind and rain. The small settlement of about 40 tents donated by a Saudi charity and set up in cooperation with the UNHCR houses mostly women and children.

"You tell me, is this a life?" cried a middle-aged woman who gave her name as Ghalia. She fled with her son to Lebanon after her husband died in shelling of the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun last year.

"We've been driven away from Syria by the war and we cannot afford rent prices in Lebanon. We have nothing but the clothes we brought with us to this tent, and now look at us!" she said as water seeped into her tent.

Imad al-Shummari, head of the al-Marj municipality, said authorities were working with the refugees to reinforce their tents and provide alternate shelter, as well as distributing heaters and extra blankets and other needs.

"We had flooding in many areas," he said.

Refugees in northern Lebanon were also affected by the storm.

"With this very harsh weather, shelters have been threatened and now that snow is hitting the Bekaa people are really in need of assistance," UNHCR external relations officer Cecile Fradot told Agence France Presse.

"Today we are relocating families whose shelters have been flooded in the north," she said.

"The situation is going to get worse, this is just the beginning of the winter."

Lebanon has about 180,000 Syrian refugees, according to U.N. figures, although the Lebanese government estimates the number at 200,000. Most are in schools and apartments, but a few are staying in tents they pitched near the Syrian border.