Torrential rain caused chaos across several parts of Iraq Thursday, with flood waters sweeping a toddler to her death and damaging camps for displaced people. The storm that hit Baghdad Wednesday evening was unusually violent and the first after a long, dry summer. According to a spokesman for the meteorological department, 54 millimetres (2.1 inches) of rain fell on the Baghdad region in 24 hours, causing thigh-high flooding on some streets.
A three-year-old girl died when she was swept away by the water at a camp for displaced people near Tuz Khurmatu, about 220 kilometres (135 miles) north of Baghdad, officials said. Hospitals in Baghdad as well Najaf, to the south of the capital, reported hundreds of cases of patients checking in with respiratory ailments caused by humidity.
The poor condition of infrastructure in Baghdad, the Arab world's second-largest city with an estimated population of more than eight million, resulted in spectacular flooding. The government declared Thursday a national holiday, knowing that many residents would be unable to reach work due to the effect on transportation. Many motorists were unable to move their vehicles, stranding them on the roadside in the most flooded areas as others were marooned in the middle of deep pools of water. In one video posted on social media, the staff in a Baghdad hospital were seen wading knee-deep in water.