Editorial: All geared up for flood response

The Kingdom has learned bitter lessons from the catastrophic effects of heavy rainfall, with serious flooding, particularly in Jeddah and Riyadh, in recent years. It is therefore comforting to know that with meteorologists predicting very bad weather in the coming days, the emergency services are on full alert.
Minister of the Interior Prince Muhammad bin Naif has ordered the mobilization of all resources to handle any emergencies that predicted heavy rainfall could bring between now and Wednesday. It is clear that much work has gone into ensuring that Civil Defense directorates throughout the Kingdom are ready for any eventuality.
One of the big challenges that emerged from the first major Jeddah floods in 2009 was the lack of communications between the emergency services. The central command structure that existed proved inadequate to deal with a complex and dynamic situation. Thus policemen, fire and ambulance men and other parts of the Civil Defense organization often found themselves working independently without proper co-ordination. As a result individuals acted on their own initiative, some with considerable courage, in seeking to save lives and avert further disaster.
However, because the authorities lacked a clear overall picture of what was going on, resources were not properly targeted to where they were most needed. While on some occasions, a number of different units were directed to the same locations, in a wasteful duplication of effort. It was sadly clear that lives were lost because there were no police around to warn motorists in particular to pull over and not head into dangers, such as underpasses that were flooding rapidly.
In the light of past tragedies, much work has gone in to clearing out storm drains, which because they were blocked, failed to carry away floodwaters and thus contributed to the chaos and disaster. Work has also been undertaken to fix drains that were never properly constructed in the first place.
Four years ago, when Jeddah was first inundated, the use of social media was far less extensive than it is today. It can be expected that if we received serious rainfall in the coming days, there will be a wealth of information being exchanged by private citizens. No doubt the Civil Defense authorities will have devoted resources to monitoring this flow of messages, so that they can update the information that they are receiving through formal channels.
However, there are two important considerations in the use of social media tracking. The first is that by no means all of it is likely to be absolutely accurate. Indeed some of it might well be completely wrong and could possibly trigger a response by emergency teams, which is entirely unnecessary. At a time of crisis, such a waste of resources that could be deployed elsewhere, to sites of real need, could lead to tragedy.
Thus the second consideration is that all social media users should think carefully about the messages that they are about to send to their friends. They should try to filter out rumors or make sure that if they are passing on information which they have not seen themselves, they should be careful to make this clear in their message.
The public also has a wider role to play. The two big Jeddah floods produced a remarkable response among ordinary people, who sought to step in and help where it was clear that the authorities were struggling to cope. Indeed there were several acts of heroism where bystanders rushed to rescue people from flooded vehicles. In the event of another emergency, while being careful not to impede the efforts of highly-trained and properly-equipped specialist rescuers, they will doubtless once again be ready to do what they can to assist the authorities.
And of course there is a simpler level at which ordinary citizens can do their bit. Besides checking on their own families and friends, they should also keep an eye on the homes of weaker members of society, especially in the event of power outages. If air-con is not working, do frail householders have enough water, enough to eat?
Disasters on the scale of the flooding the Kingdom has experienced in recent years are hardly to be welcomed, except in one important respect. Challenges of this magnitude bring out the best in people. Sure there are few who look to their own interests and bother about no one else, but in 2009 and again in 2011, the majority Jeddah citizens behaved with generosity and compassion and will doubtless do so again, if needs be.