The Hedjas

Owing to the unprecedented thaw of snow in the South Kurdistan mountains [Mesopotamia] the Tigris burst its left bank 17 miles north of Bagdad, leaving that city an island in a flooded area of 100 square miles. Both the Zab and the Little Zab rivers between Mosul and Bagdad are pouring their swollen tribute into the waters of the Tigris. It will be impossible to repair the breach until the river has fallen ten feet.

In Bagdad the civil jail was destroyed, but the prisoners were saved. The embankment round the city is holding and there is no fear of its crumbling. King Feisal is said to be personally responsible for saving the palace and the cultivated land near it. His bodyguard, under his supervision and spurred on by encouraging strains from an Arab band, repaired damage to the embankment encircling the royal property.