Some slept on their campuses, while others said they slept at strangers’ houses in their desperate search for a roof above their heads.

“As soon as I heard about the storm I called my driver, who said he could not pick me up because of the congestion. That’s when a student sitting next to me whom I’d never met before said she would take me to her house,” said student Sara Ma’ammar.

“I usually would not take such an offer but I had to because of this situation, and so we went to her house along with three other students. Her mother welcomed us with a home-cooked meal and warm towels to dry ourselves,” she added.

King Abdulaziz University asked students and faculty members to evacuate the campus, where they faced the dilemma of facing the flood waters inside or outside the campus. “I was surprised that the university did not delay the exams to a better day, so I had to go and test the students. After the exam was done I sat with my students to make sure they were okay until the administration staff asked us to leave, not caring what the weather was like outside,” said one faculty member.

“I later took my car down the streets until it was almost submerged and my driver decided to stop in front of a building near the university. People living in the building offered to let me stay at their home until it was safe to go home, so I slept there and I reached home at 5 a.m.,” she added.

She said the university also provided some students with buses to shift them to the student dorms and put them all in the basement as there was not enough space.

Other students went to the university’s hospital for clean and dry shelter. “It was a long struggle to the hospital where they locked us inside and banned us from leaving it. We were offered food and patient beds to sleep in,” said student Raneem Jazzar.

“I left the hospital at 10 a.m. the next day and was stuck on the roads for four hours until I reached home at 2 p.m.,” she added.

Dar Al-Hekma College offered its students and faculty members shelter on the college campus.

“Almost 300 students spent the night at the college in fear and panic of what might happen next,” said a student at the college.

“We stayed there for many hours doing nothing but talk about what was going on in Jeddah’s streets.

Students were in touch with their families to update them on their current situation, while college faculty members tried to calm the students down,” she added.

Social network websites provided a vital source of information, helping update people on the situation in the Jeddah streets. They also informed them about households willing to provide shelter.

“I checked my Facebook page and saw that a family in Al-Safa district in Jeddah was opening their home to people in that area. I immediately contacted them and went to their house and waited there until my father was able to pick me up,” said university student Sara Al-Refai.

“I was not able to reach my house until dawn, but I’m thankful,” she added.