Syria port authority shuts all ports to bad weather

Syria's port authority has shut down all the country's sea ports including Tartous due to poor weather and high winds, state media reported on Wednesday. The port of Tartous had initially been exempt from the closure but the country's ports authority later said it was shutting down as conditions worsened.

Syria's port authority has shut down all the country's sea ports including Tartous due to poor weather and high winds, state media reported on Wednesday.

The port of Tartous had initially been exempt from the closure but the country's ports authority later said it was shutting down as conditions worsened. "There are winds and high waves in bursts and we cannot risk opening the ports at this time," Brigadier General Samer Korosli, the director general of the authority told Reuters.

The war-ravaged country operates seven sea ports through which it brings in basic needs including food and petroleum products. The wind has also caused a blackout in the southern province of Sweida after a number of eletrical towers collapsed, according to Syrian state TV.