The documentary, titled The Gateway to the Two Holy Mosques — Ya Khadim Al-Haramain, stresses the need to bring to court those responsible.

The film begins with a city planner, Ahmad Jeddawi, writing a letter to King Abdullah on behalf of the city’s residents. In the letter, Jeddawi writes about the difficulties faced by people and suggests a series of emergency steps that need to be taken to guarantee their safety.

The letter also stresses the need to inform people of the total cost to build a flood and sewage system in Jeddah.

Those who appear in the film include Abdullah Omar Naseef, the former secretary-general of the Muslim World League, Dr. Waleed Fitaihi, executive director of the International Medical Center, Ahmad Al-Shugairi, journalist, Ali Al-Amri, president of the 4 Shabab Channel, and Hamza Idris, a former international football player.

The film also captures the sufferings experienced by local residents following heavy rains and suggests solutions to avoid heavy losses in the future.

Asim Al-Ghamdi and Layla Al-Nahdi produced the documentary. It has been directed and photographed by Muhannad Al-Kadm. The documentary made its debut on YouTube on Feb. 11 and has been watched 54,000 times so far.

Many people in Jeddah do not trust government officials who they say have been making empty promises since the 2009 floods in which 122 people died.

“Now our only hope is in the king. The second flood that came a few weeks ago was more furious but was less in terms of loss of lives. This was not because of any steps by officials but because people do not trust government officials and dared not to go out as soon as they saw clouds,” said Nasser Al-Sahli, a local resident.

Fahed Al-Mutairy, another resident, said he wonders why the media are silent on the issue.