RIYADH, 16 August 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah instructed Interior Minister Prince Naif to adopt an emergency shelter plan for victims of natural disasters in the Kingdom.
The emergency shelters will be in the Kingdom’s various regions and there will be coordination between ministries and officials in municipalities and governorates.
According to Lt. Gen. Saad Al-Tuwaijiri, head of the Civil Defense in the Kingdom, the shelters are expected to accommodate over 140,000 persons in a way acceptable to Saudi norms and traditions.
“Shelters are currently under construction here in Jizan and will be constructed in other areas in the Kingdom according to directives from the interior minister,” he said after touring some flooded areas in Jizan.
Al-Tuwaijiri said that Civil Defense helicopters were ready to evacuate any person, local or resident, from the floodwaters. He called on citizens and residents to call the Civil Defense immediately and report situations requiring intervention to rescue persons trapped by flood waters.
Al-Tuwaijiri explained that the region’s geography was part of the problem. “Jizan, in the south of the Kingdom, is surrounded by mountains and every summer, the same problem occurs. There is heavy rainfall followed by floods. Part of the problem lies with people who build artificial barriers to prevent water from flowing in its natural path. Human interference causes running water from the mountains to be diverted to other ways and the water then runs into villages,” he explained.
He said the Civil Defense had removed 2,500 sand barriers erected by people and that it was vital that people become aware of the consequences of their actions.
A number of areas in Jizan have been flooded in the past several days. Local police units, as well as Civil Defense ones, have rescued dozens trapped by floodwaters in their homes and vehicles. In some areas, floodwaters prevented ambulances from taking the injured to local hospitals.
Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Safran, deputy chief of police in Jizan, said: “We have managed to help 213 people reach safety since yesterday. Some were trapped in their cars and others in their homes.”
He said police units had also helped passengers reach the airport in spite of floodwaters blocking a number of roads in the city.
