BEIRUT, Lebanon — A winter storm in Lebanon has resurfaced a longstanding national problem, in the form of a swirling sea of garbage.

Piles of trash began washing up Monday on the beaches of Zouk Mosbeh, a town 10 miles north of Beirut, leaving the shore littered with refuse. An earlier storm surge had dragged trash from a landfill out to sea, later depositing it along the coastline and up to 100 feet inland.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday ordered a cleanup of the beaches in the Kaserwan district, home to Zouk Mosbeh and a region filled with beach resorts.