MADINAH, 14 May 2006 — A pleasant family outing can end in disaster if the wrong picnic spot is chosen. People from Madinah often go into valleys after rain. Despite Civil Defense’s repeated warnings to people to stay out of valleys after rain, people often ignore it, placing their lives and the lives of their families in danger.
Madinah can be dangerous as it is surrounded by many valleys that are many meters deep and kilometers long.
Saleh Al-Oufi, a Madinah resident, said that the problem was not in sitting on the edge of the valleys but in going down into them and putting oneself at risk from flash floods.
Two years ago more than 30 people died in Al-Yatama village, 80 kilometers from Madinah, in floods, which destroyed many homes and farms. It is a tradition in Madinah that families go out after rains but people “do not follow safety measures when enjoying themselves,” said Al-Oufi.
Arab News visited a popular family site, nine kilometers south of Madinah. What was seen was shocking because there were families sitting in the middle of the valley enjoying themselves.
The families were seemingly unaware that flash floods could occur at any time during the rainy season. Even if the rains were not in the Madinah area, fast moving water from other areas can flow down the valley, killing people and sweeping them away.
During the rainy season the fire department receives many calls from people who have been stranded by the unexpected waters of a flash flood. Boats and helicopters are commonly used to rescue them.
Col. Suleiman Al-Raddadi, supervisor of the Madinah Fire Department, warned people about going into valleys after rain. He said that teams from the fire department visit the sites and warn people against going down into them. The fire department also evacuates residents living in valleys or on the edge of them.
“We close down roads into dangerous flooded areas,” he said, adding that there had been no deaths reported in the recent floods in Madinah or in Al-Yatama village.
