JEDDAH/MAKKAH, 30 October 2006 — Following four hours of heavy rains, thunder and lightning in the early hours of yesterday morning in Jeddah and Makkah, chaos reigned in the streets of the two cities with a series of car crashes, commuter traffic jams, power cuts and flooding.
In all 25 houses in Jeddah suffered electrical short circuits and fire-officers were called to save 18 pupils who were left stranded in a school bus on the way to school.
Two buildings were also evacuated in the downtown Balad area for fear of collapsing. According to a source at the Traffic Department, around 23 traffic signals at main intersections across the city also short-circuited.
Meanwhile in Makkah, police officers recorded a number of traffic accidents, rocks falling from mountains blocking roads and damaging cars and a series of flooded neighborhoods with firemen using rubber dinghies to help stranded people.
In Jeddah, the rains began at around 3 a.m. and continued for more than four hours. As a precautionary measure, the Fire Department sent teams to a number of main roads and intersections known for flooding to assist drivers who had got stuck. Traffic police units spread across Jeddah to organize traffic during the morning commuter rush. No deaths were reported.
In many places drains were blocked with rubbish, as torrents of water flooded main roads and side streets. Early morning traffic bore the brunt of the floods and short journeys were drastically lengthened by traffic jams.
After the rains began to fall a special committee consisting of the Fire Department, the Traffic Department, Jeddah Municipality and the Saudi Red Crescent was formed. The Fire Department requested further help from the Makkah Fire Department and deployed teams in the downtown area in addition to 32 safety and rescue teams in case of emergencies.
Col. Jameel Arbaeen, director of civil defense in Makkah, said a bus carrying 15 students overturned in Hida, killing its driver. “All students were safe,” he said, adding some areas received 28mm of rains. Police officers rescued 85 people and four buses stranded in floodwaters, he said, adding “We have also taken out a child’s body from a pond.”
Brig. Gen. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, manager of the Jeddah Fire Department, told Arab News in a phone interview that all firefighters were called to duty once it began raining. They were instructed to monitor developments from the control room and to provide help to anyone in need. The Fire Department identified and located the most damaged areas and worked on providing relief to those areas.
He said the Fire Department contacted construction companies to locate construction sites at most risk and to put up warning signs.
Many schools around the city closed for the day not expecting pupils to come in. Many students were stranded in front of schools and forced to take shelter in doorways inside nearby shops and cafeterias. Many could not return home because of the heavy rains and those who lived far away were stuck because their transport had already left. Shops and cafeterias were packed with students and passersby until the rains stopped. Many cars were stranded on the sides of roads after failing to start. Vehicles falling into open sewage holes were also reported, while there were reports of trees falling onto parked vehicles.
On Madinah Road, between Palestine Street and Hera Street, at 7.15 a.m. yesterday 11 cars had ground to a halt in axle deep water and three had, in their haste to leave the main road, miscalculated the position of the slip road and ended up perched on the one-foot high median strip. Adding to the confusion, many drivers of SUVs took the opportunity to demonstrate the ability of their vehicles to plow through floods. Weaving through the slow moving traffic, more than one clipped a stationary vehicle and many, producing waves of muddy spray, showered cars and pedestrians alike.
Malek Street and the Corniche Road were relatively free moving with less surface water and more freely moving traffic. “One would have thought people would slow down or at least attempt to avoid the water,” said Doug Vale, a university lecturer in Jeddah. “Yet even in these atrocious conditions, they plow into deep water, stop because of electrical failure and then become the cause of a traffic jam.”
Torrential rains also fell in Makkah causing a series of car accidents with many cars flipping over after being hit by rocks falling from nearby mountains. Eyewitnesses said many roads and highways around Makkah were blocked. The Al-Zaher, Al-Nuzha and Al-Mesfala neighborhoods were flooded with firefighters using rubber dinghies to provide local people with aid.
The Makkah Municipality together with local residents worked all day yesterday to clear the streets and reopen blocked roads. Locals used their tractors to assist the Fire Department in clearing roads from rocks and fallen trees.
Abdul Aziz Al-Yamani, assistant manager of public affairs from the Electricity Company in Jeddah, said electricians had been dispatched to fix power shortages that occurred because of the rains. Al-Yamani added that electricity was reconnected shortly after the power cut and that they had put all their units and technicians on the ready to deal with any potential emergencies during the rains. A meteorology report showed that there was a possibility of more rain coming to the area. There were clouds forming in Madinah, Jouft, the northern areas, and the Qasim and Hail regions.
— With input from Hasan Hatrash and Roger Harrison
