The heavy rain that began on Tuesday has affected several parts of the country, including the Kurdistan Region, the northern city of Kirkuk, the capital Baghdad and the central Babil province. The rain continued Wednesday and Thursday, causing severe flooding.

Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that three people were electrocuted in Babil during the storm. Another two were killed by lightning strikes in the Kurdistan Region, according to Arabic news reports.

Flooding is a regular occurrence in Iraq and late March saw flooding throughout the country.

At the same time, Iraq is also experiencing desertification. The situation has worsened in recent years, and Iraq is often described as one of the most at-risk countries in the world to climate change. Iraq experiences relatively high water insecurity thanks to a lack of rainfall and poor water management.

The heavy rain has some potential benefits, despite the dangers. The water levels in eastern Iraq's al-Azim reservoir rose 30%, the Kurdish Iraqi news outlet Rudaw reported on Thursday.

Other parts of the Middle East were also affected by the heavy rains this week.