JEDDAH: No amount of floodwater or repeated warnings of more heavy downpours from the meteorology department will stop Jeddah’s 30,000-strong King Abdulaziz University to reopen as scheduled.
The university seems keen on resuming lessons even if it means the students have to swim the lakes left by the flashfloods to reach their lecture halls.
Arab News noticed that the northern side of the university was a virtual lake. There are still cars submerged close to the compound wall. Some people were seen making desperate attempts to salvage the remains of their cars at serious risk to themselves. The university gate was closed and nobody was seen around except for some cleaners. They told Arab News that the floodwater had affected many buildings in the university. Some websites had reported books and magazines in the general library had been floating in rainwater. But Arab News did not notice any evidence of this apart from dirty marks left by rising water on its walls.
A number of vehicles parked in the university were carried away in the flood. The pavements in front of the main gate parallel to the College of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Zone Farming were cracked.
“No study has been conducted to determine the extent of danger heavy rains can cause to the buildings,” said director of Applied Geology and Survey Saleh Al-Safari, responding to a question about the threat the university buildings posed to the lives of its students and teachers. He added any postponement of the university’s reopening was a matter for the Ministry of Higher Education.
However, the university’s president Osama Tayb had earlier told local newspapers the cleaning operation in the campus was progressing rapidly and the university was ready for returning students. An initial study estimated the damage to university buildings at SR200 million.
VIP students in private universities welcome a delay in reopening. Dar Al-Hekma College decided to open one week later than usual to spare its students the woes of predicted heavy rains.
