Four Killed in Sewage Flooding

Four people were killed Tuesday in the Gaza Strip after the banking around a sewage cesspool fell, causing flooding. The flooding sewage and mud filled the streets and forced the evacuation of Umm Naser, a small village. Umm Naser is a small town with a population of only about 3,000.

The problem had apparently been created over quite a bit of time but more recently in the last week. Sewage had been building up and putting more and more stress on the wall that holds it back from the village. On Tuesday the wall could not hold the contents of the cesspool back, causing the collapse and flood.

Four people were killed in the flood. Twenty-five were also injured as the flood took the town by total surprise. Human losses were not the only issue as many homes were completely destroyed or badly damaged. The cleanup after this flood will prove to be very difficult.

Residents of Umm Naser were very angry and proved to be difficult to deal with for reporters and health officials.

Hamas, the well known Muslim group that is most noted for being very militant, came to the village first to try to find and rescue survivors. Though they were helping, the blame for this incident could be placed on them to a certain extent. There was a good amount of money ready to repair sewage systems in the area before the most recent election. Once Hamas officials won the election and took over, the funding was pulled and no repairs were done. Hamas is regarded as a terrorist group by many nations and political groups and this is what stopped the repair and treatment money from coming in.

The flooding has ruined many lives in Umm Naser and the repair of the village will take quite a long time. The cleanup process will be very delicate as raw sewage is involved. Help has been offered by the Israeli military even though Umm Naser is located in Palestine.

Cited:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17812290/

http://kutv.com/topstories/topstories_story_086115648.html