JEDDAH: A dust storm hit the Jeddah area on Monday, reducing visibility to a kilometer, leading to traffic jams across the city, including the Al-Lith to Jeddah and Al-Lith to Makkah highways.
Many motorists were forced to discontinue driving because of poor visibility, particularly on coastal roads. As a result, traffic police were on alert to help motorists, particularly vehicles carrying female teachers. Parents could be seen eagerly waiting outside schools to take their children home. Hospital sources said the storm led to an increase in the number of breathing-related complaints.
Shopping centers and souks saw few shoppers and some shops had closed. Strong winds also brought down some electric posts and billboards in Jeddah.
The Civil Defense received several calls for help, said Capt. Abdullah Al-Amri, spokesman for the Makkah Civil Defense. “A fire at the Al-Jabri Cattle Feed Farm on the Old Jeddah-Makkah Road was extinguished by four teams of fire- fighters,” said Al-Amri, adding that the wind contributed to the fire spreading rapidly. “There were fire engines on the scene to stop the fire from spreading to nearby farms. The strong winds caused a little delay in efforts to tame the fire but there were no injuries,” he added.
Civil Defense teams also attended a call at a girls’ secondary school in Naseem district where nine girls had fainted. “One of the girls had an epileptic fit and passed out. This led to some other girls also falling unconscious,” a medical source told Arab News. The source also advised people to wear face masks and to avoid inhaling the dust as much as possible.
Brig. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, director of traffic police in Jeddah, warned motorists against speeding when visibility is poor and to switch their headlights on. Samir Mirah, director of operations at King Abdulaziz International Airport, said the sandstorm did not affect air traffic. “Wind at a speed of between 15 and 20 km/h does not affect air traffic in Jeddah,” he said.
Hussain Al-Qahtani, spokesman for the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection, said the sandstorm was caused by blocks of air carrying dust from the southwest of the Kingdom, reducing visibility in regions to the west and southwest of the country. He said that the storm would continue until Tuesday.
