DAMMAM, 25 February 2003 — Heavy rain has disrupted normal life in the Eastern Province over the past few days, with the Civil Defense and Traffic Department reporting more than two dozen road accidents in the region.
The heaviest rainfall was recorded at Dhahran Observatory.
The rains, which started on Sunday evening, have flooded many low-lying areas in Dammam, Alkhobar, Thuqba, Qatif and Sihat. Jubail Industrial City remained unaffected due to its modern drainage system, but many areas in Jubail city were in knee-deep waters.
The worst-affected area in Dammam was Rakah, where many houses were cut off from the flooded main street.
Dammam Municipality was caught unprepared when the rain came and as a result draining operations could not start immediately. However, workers with heavy pump sets were soon seen along the Coast Road draining rain water.
The operation got bogged down again when the heavens opened again.
“We’re trying our best to clear the area, but the rain is not giving us any respite,” a supervisor of the workers, who was busy at a pumping operation, told Arab News.
Residents of Dammam and Alkhobar experienced inconvenience in the afternoon when traffic was clogged with school buses. Adding to the chaos was a cloud burst, which caused traffic jams on the Dammam-Alkhobar Highway and Dhahran Street in Alkhobar.
At least three accidents were witnessed by this correspondent in the same period on the Dammam-Alkhobar Highway. There were no casualties.
The International Indian School, Dammam had some anxious moments when it was reported that one of its buses carrying students to Hofuf had been involved in a major accident. However, it later turned out that the bus swerved off the highway when the driver applied his brakes and no one had been injured.
Flights operated normally but there were some delays in train arrivals from Riyadh.
SAPTCO service was the worst affected due to rains and many breakdowns were reported.
With people staying indoors, Alkhobar and Dammam markets were deserted.
