JEDDAH: Heavy rains, preceded by sandstorms, fell for two hours on Yanbu and Umluj and their surrounding areas on Tuesday, destroying trees and ripping off advertisements from billboards.
Brig. Zuhair Sabiyah, director of the Civil Defense in Yanbu, said his department received a number of emergency calls from members of the public trapped in their homes.
He added that there are no exact figures of how many were trapped, but all those who contacted the Civil Defense have been evacuated from their homes for their own safety.
Sabiyah said the Civil Defense was ready to face any crisis situation, adding that no one has died in the bad weather.
Meanwhile, a number of residents said some houses in the Al-Asiali and Al-Simairi districts of Yanbu were flooded with water, as they were situated below street level.
The residents added that many families were still trapped in their homes.
Many residents said that they were without power for nearly five hours after the rain, and were hoping that power would be back on soon.
