Rains bring more misery to Jeddah
The new bout of rains created an extra burden on the Civil Defense, which is still searching for 39 people missing since last month's floods. The Civil Defense has now been forced to come up with new plans, especially in dealing with large new pools of stagnant water in the Al-Harazat, Al-Sawaed and Quwaizah districts, which have been plagued by traffic jams due to the new rain.
Bandar Al-Shamrani, a resident of the Al-Sawaed area, said roads leading to Al-Mahameed and Al-Faw neighborhoods had been flooded and that cars were damaged as a result. "Roads were badly damaged and the floods brought along mud and debris which caused a lot of problems," he added.
Brig. Muhammad Al-Qarni, director of the Civil Defense's Crisis Management Center, said the Civil Defense was on full alert before the rain started. Teams of Civil Defense had been stationed near the Musk Lake, he said, adding that the situation was stable.
He said that most of the reports he received were from people who had been injured or stuck inside their homes. He comforted Jeddah residents by saying that there is no threat of flash floods like last month.
Meanwhile, in Yanbu it rained for three hours, causing water to flood homes and cut off roads. Forty people who had been stuck inside their homes were rescued. Schools witnessed a huge absence with many parents not allowing their children to go to school. Police reported that a number of people detained at a police station in Yanbu had been evacuated due to flooding.
The Civil Defense in Yanbu implemented an emergency plan as a precautionary measure and instructed people to stay away from valleys and roads that lead to them. In Makkah, the Civil Defense was on alert following heavy rains. Residents had been monitoring the skies for clouds. Many residents had also parked their cars on top of mountains in case of floods, Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.