Prince Naif reiterated the government’s resolve to find a solution to Jeddah’s recurrent flood problem. Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who accompanied him during the tour in a helicopter, briefed Prince Naif on the measures taken to lessen the suffering of flood victims and provide them with necessary assistance.

Two Saudis are still missing following last week’s floods, bringing the total number of missing to five, said Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Qarni, director of the media center that was set up following the Jan. 26 floods.

He identified the two men as Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Al-Hajri, 80, and Abdullah Abubakr Saleh Al-Jilani, 25. He said the number of dead remained at 10 while the injured stood at 114, of which 100 have left hospital after receiving treatment.

“We are continuing our field survey of affected areas to find missing people and make sure that no more people are trapped in flood waters,” Al-Qarni said, adding that 1,688 officers are involved in search and rescue operations.

The crisis management center of the Civil Defense has provided accommodation to 5,054 families and 20,200 individuals who became homeless following the floods. According to reports received by the center until Tuesday, the floods destroyed 886 properties and 1,459 cars.

Al-Qarni said the Ministry of Finance has been distributing meals to 300 families a day. He also reported that traffic is near normal in most parts of Jeddah after the municipality removed rainwater. Security and patrol police have intensified their presence in residential districts where power has been cut off to prevent looting. The Saudi Electricity Company is continuing its efforts to reconnect all affected customers.

Jeddah Municipality announced Tuesday that 70 percent of flood water has been removed from Al-Samir and Baghdadiya, the two districts that were most affected by the floods. "We have removed rainwater from Naseem fully," a municipality official said.

Efforts are being made to remove water from the Jamia, Aziziya and Um Al-Sulm districts. "We have deployed 2,800 workers to repair damages caused by floods,” he said. The municipality has deployed 340 teams to spray insecticides in various parts of the city to kill disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Speaking about efforts to remove water from Al-Samir, the official said: "We’ve been removing 140,000 cubic meters of water a day from the area using seven pumps.”