Many people remained at home on Thursday fearing a repeat of what happened in November 2009. Despite the chaotic traffic and submerged cars, people did not lose their sense of humor.

Some forwarded jokes to friends via their mobile phones expressing a sense of skepticism at the municipality. One made fun of Saher, the Kingdom’s recently introduced traffic monitoring system, saying it has deployed a dolphin to monitor traffic on the Haramain Expressway.

“Jeddah Traffic Police launches new system involving a diver to monitor traffic violations under water,” read another. “Jeddah Municipality increases the price of land because they are all overlooking the sea now,” was a favorite.

Some citizens also accused the Jeddah Municipality of drowning the western part of the city by erecting embankments to prevent rain and floodwater from reaching the King Abdullah Underpass. “Instead of going through the underpass, the water submerged the residential districts near it in the west of Jeddah,” said one resident, indicating that this has been recorded on YouTube, and that the underpass still became submerged.

“I wish municipality officials would go out to see the new flyovers and tunnels and watch how ineffective they are when it rains and there are floods,” said Nasser Al-Zahrani.

He added that he would like officials to visit districts in the north of Jeddah and see for themselves how the rain has damaged roads and street lighting on which the government has spent billions of riyals.

Rashid Al-Mitairi questioned the fate of the investigation committees and the officials responsible for the 2009 flood. “Where are these committees now that the same crisis has occurred again?” he asked. Al-Mitairi also expressed surprise that the stench of the dead bodies in East Jeddah last year had not stirred the consciences of municipality officials.

The futility of many of Makkah’s flood-drainage projects also came into focus following Thursday's heavy rains in the city. The roads were left waterlogged and full of potholes.

Haj Street was in a particularly deplorable state. Residents said at least 100 vehicles had been damaged on the road due to potholes. Sharaei Street was also no different. In fact, the traffic police shut down a number of roads in the city due to frequent traffic jams. The movement of lorries, bulldozers and cranes involved in ongoing municipal projects exacerbated the city’s traffic woes.

Local residents expressed concerns that the municipal authorities were implementing drainage projects without coordination with other departments that are carrying out utility projects. The absence of coordination has resulted in roads being dug up and then being left not repaired or poorly repaired making the lives of people miserable, especially when it rains.

“Who will pay for the repairs to my car? I support my family with this car. I have no other source of income,” said taxi driver Ali Al-Maqti whose car was stuck in a large pothole.

Makkah Municipality has not yet appointed a committee to look into the damages to vehicles and houses caused by the rains. “No committee has been appointed to assess the damages. No demand for compensation for damages has been received by the Civil Defense,” said Brig. Jameel Arbaeen, director of the Civil Defense in Makkah.

He, however, added that a committee would be appointed in case any complaints are received and that a report will be submitted to the relevant departments.