U.S. Bombardments Hit Tabqa Dam, Triggering Fears of Catastrophic Euphrates Flooding in Syria

American bombardments on the Tabqa dam in Syria, described by Le Monde as occurring on 26 mars, raised fears of catastrophic flooding because the dam regulates the Euphrate and contains the “lac Assad” with a surface area of 630km2 and a capacity of at least twelve milliards de mètres cubes.

Le Monde said the barrage de Tabqa had been lost to the regime Assad since four years and fell into Daech hands in 2014, and it placed Tabqa about “une cinquantaine de kilomètres au sud-ouest de Rakka.”

Al-Jazeera Net

The same Le Monde account said the U.S. launched an “assaut héliporté sur Tabqa” with “des centaines de conseillers américains” associated with the milices largely kurdes of the Forces démocratiques syriennes (SDF).

Le Monde reported that the missiles hit the technical control post of the dam and that “jihadistes et kurdes ont convenu d’un cessez-le-feu de quelques heures” to carry out repairs.

In parallel, AFP-linked reporting in ladepeche.fr said the northern road to the Tabqa Dam was dotted with signs of fighting between Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the United States against the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS), and it warned that a failure could cause catastrophic floods after the UN warning.

In eastern Syria, flooding followed Turkey’s opening of spillway gates at the Ataturk Dam, with Al-Monitor reporting that Syria’s energy ministry warned on Thursday of rising water levels on the Euphrates after flooding in the north and east.

Al-Monitor said the ministry was monitoring the situation “in light of the significant and unprecedented increase in water flows from the Turkish side,” and it attributed the increase to “the abundance of the current rainy season and the opening of floodgates at dams located along the river in Turkish territory.”

Al-Jazeera Net

SANA reported that Syrian authorities intensified emergency measures along the Euphrates River after water levels rose sharply following heavy rainfall and increased upstream water flows, and it said Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh established a “joint operations room” in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.

SANA said emergency reinforcement teams from Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and Homs began arriving to support local response operations, and it reported that floodwaters inundated homes, a school, a mosque and farmland in parts of Raqqa countryside.

Rudaw reported that “About 50 water stations out of 210 stations have gone out of service” after being flooded by the Euphrates River, and it added that in Iraq’s western Anbar province authorities declared a three-day state of alert over flooding risk.

As the Euphrates rose, Syrian state media and local reporting described flooding across Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, with Arab News saying water levels rose over the past two days and prompting authorities to urge residents living along the banks to move inland.

“Flooding in north and east Syria as Euphrates level rises Syria's energy ministry warned on Thursday of rising water levels on the Euphrates River after flooding in the north and east following increased flows from neighbouring Turkey and recent rains”

Al-Monitor

Arab News reported there were no reports of casualties in the flooding, while it described damage to agricultural fields and homes and businesses, and it quoted Mohammed Amin, 65, saying “Our losses are huge.”

SANA said al-Saleh recorded “no deaths directly linked to flooding,” but it also reported that recent fatalities involved children who drowned while swimming in the river and that a fourth child remained missing.

Al-Jazeera Net described the Euphrates as a “silent killer” and said three children died by drowning while swimming in the Euphrates, with a fourth child missing, while it also said the Mariyya bridges and the Mariyya earthen bridge and Al-Asharah bridge were taken out of service.

The same Al-Jazeera Net account said the Euphrates Dam reservoir exceeded 97% capacity and that inflows reached about 2,000 cubic meters per second with the opening of the spillway gates, and it warned that hazards included drowning if people swim.