Local residents still remember, with a shudder, Nov. 25, 2009, when rain and floods descended here, reducing the elegant commercial centers and residential buildings in the street to rubble.

“This street still attracts tourists who want to view the place where that calamity happened,” said Muhammad Suleiman, who runs a clothes store in the street. He added that the residents of Quwaiza suffered the brunt of the floods last year.

A good number of people who drowned in the floods belonged to the neighborhood.

According to official records, 125 people died and 350 remain missing in the aftermath.

Looking at tourists, Suleiman said his worst fear is that people will continue to associate the street with calamity, consider it an accursed place and avoid coming there for shopping.

“The debris left by the floods does not remain in the street anymore thanks to the municipality. However, nobody can wipe away the street’s tragic reputation. Everyone here wants to get rid of the memories of that day,” Suleiman added.

“People here are not sure of their safety if it rains heavily again, as the street is in the direct way of a flood path. Many residents want to sell their properties and leave for safer places,” he added.

Quwaiza took the brunt of the flood because it lies in the middle of a plain that begins at Qauz valley.