MADINAH, 24 January 2005 — Many residents in Madinah were forced to leave their homes, especially in some low-lying parts of the holy city, after rainwater started seeping into them.
Al-Yatama dam collapsed as a result of the heavy rain isolating many villages outside Madinah and stranding motorists on the Madinah-Makkah Expressway.
Many villages were damaged because of Saturday rain including Al-Areesh, Al-Yatama, Al-Fegra and Al-Musaijeed. Fire department launched rescue missions to save some of the stranded families in isolated villages.
Talal Al-Nasiri, a Saudi, was driving on his way to Madinah when he was caught in the middle of the rain.
He said, “I have never seen such heavy rain for a long time. My home is in Abyar Ali, 10 kilometers south of Madinah. Rainwater flooded my home and destroyed the farm wall of my neighbor. I was stranded in the middle of the highway on a high ground for nearly six hours before we were allowed to continue to drive to Madinah. Most of the road was flooded and highway police had to close the road for the safety of motorists.”
According to a source at the fire department, eight people died as a result of flooding, six others are missing and the department was able to save 43 people stranded in villages.
A fire department source told Arab News, “People are not taking our warnings seriously. They ignore the warning when we tell them not to drive or camp in the middle of the valley. Many drivers were caught by surprise when rainwater began sweeping their cars away. There were huge losses in farms outside Madinah. We have many farmers losing their animals. Some roads cannot be opened because either large parts of it are destroyed or covered with mud.”
Muneer Al-Harbi, from Al-Seeh neighborhood in Madinah, said, “The heavy rain caused many fires in the neighborhood. Families were scared because their houses are old. The hardest rain I remember was in 1407. This is the strongest rain since that time”.
Ateeq Al-Raddadi said, “I have relatives in Wadi Fare area and I still have no news about them. They are isolated in that village and I am hoping that everything is fine. I tried to call them but there is no coverage. I still want to go there but that area is totally surrounded by rainwater and it is unsafe to drive there”.
Eyewitnesses told Arab News that he saw a big GMC car with family inside swept by rain flood in the middle of a valley in Adgoos area, 15 kilometers from Al-Yatama. He said there was only one survivor who managed to hold on to a tree when the rainwater took the rest of the family and there is no news about them.
