GAZA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Thousands of residents of the Gaza Strip have fled their homes as high winds and heavy rains pushed flood waters to dangerous levels, officials say.
The evacuations come as temperatures are expected to fall to near freezing while Palestinian authorities deal with widespread power outages, the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency reported Friday.
In northern Gaza, 16 to 19 inches of flood water had forced hundreds of people from their homes. Travel through the neighborhoods was possible only by boat
Nearly 2,900 people had been evacuated and were being sheltered in schools, the Gazan government said.
The health ministry declared a state of emergency and put all emergency vehicles and their crews on high alert across the region.
City work crews in Gaza and staff members of a U.N. relief agency said they were working around the clock to deal with the flooding.
"After so many years of the Israeli blockade, the public health system in Gaza was already acutely and chronically damaged, so the man-made problems inflicted on Gaza are compounded by the extreme weather conditions," said Chris Gunness, a spokesperson for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.
The Gaza Strip's power plant has not operated since the beginning of the month after the plant ran out of fuel because of an Israeli blockade.
