JEDDAH: Rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, lashed Jeddah for the second time in nearly four weeks as the authorities and residents took precautions to avoid another flood-related tragedy like the one that hit the city on Nov. 25.
With the cloudburst drenching various parts of the city, certain areas were waterlogged and motorists rushed to reach the safety of their homes.
In the process, the wet, slippery roads and the logjam at various traffic points led to a lengthy wait for many in the rain. The heavy showers, which came down for half an hour, eased up and so did the anxiety level of the residents. Traffic soon returned to normalcy as people braced themselves for more rains as predicted by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment.
As a precautionary measure, most residents living to the east of the Haramain Expressway had left their homes on Tuesday. Arab News toured Quwaiza and Jamia districts, the worst-hit areas during the Nov. 25 floods, and found that things were normal at the time of going to press. Many residents in the area, however, said they would not be leaving their homes. “We don’t have any other place to go,” they said.
People in Ajwad and Al-Samir neighborhoods contacted the Civil Defense to ask about evacuating their homes. But an official said they had no plan to evacuate residents of those districts for the moment. “We’ll do it if necessary,” he said.
Jeddah residents became anxious early in the day as threatening dark clouds hovered over the city. Everyone from the Civil Defense to schools and universities began taking precautionary steps.
Most universities, including the King Abdulaziz University (KAU), issued emergency advisories to their students and faculty to evacuate campuses before the official end of the school day in anticipation of rain. Dar El Hekma was the first to cancel afternoon classes, instructing students to leave early. Effat University soon followed, advising students to leave as soon as possible to avoid heavy traffic.
“This was a voluntary evacuation that was carried out only as a precaution,” said KAU’s Head of Security and Safety Dr. Abdul Kadr Tankar. He added that all extracurricular activities that were scheduled for after-school hours were canceled. KAU also stopped evening classes and preparatory courses for its part time students following the Met. office warning of more rains.
“We have informed students about this precautionary measure,” said Tankar. He said no students would be allowed to enter the campus after 5 p.m. Currently more than 6,000 students attend preparatory courses in the evening. “We have also taken measures to prevent flood water from entering the compound.”
Dr. Sami Badawood, director of Health Department in Jeddah, said all hospitals and health facilities in the city have been instructed to be ready to receive patients in the event of rains.
Many near the Musk Lake, where residents feared the possibility of the dam bursting, contemplated fleeing to safer areas. Their concern intensified following a 15-minute blackout that affected areas to the east of the Haramain Expressway.
Residents started calling the Civil Defense to inquire about the condition of the lake and the possibility of it overflowing in case of rain. The Director of Civil Defense in Jeddah Brig. Abdullah Jeddawi said four teams were monitoring the water level at Musk Lake round-the-clock. Jeddawi noted that in the past three weeks, the water level at the lake has decreased from 15 to 9 meters.
He said 20 rescue teams have been deployed in areas, including valleys and areas where water pools had formed on account of last month’s rains and floods. He added that early-warning teams were stationed about 30 km to the east of Jeddah to warn residents to evacuate their homes in case of floods.
