Prince Naif reiterated the government’s resolve to find a
solution to Jeddah’s recurrent flood problem. Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled
Al-Faisal, who accompanied him during the tour in a helicopter, briefed Prince
Naif on the measures taken to lessen the suffering of flood victims and provide
them with necessary assistance.
Two Saudis are still missing following last week’s floods,
bringing the total number of missing to five, said Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Qarni,
director of the media center that was set up following the Jan. 26 floods.
He identified the two men as Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Al-Hajri,
80, and Abdullah Abubakr Saleh Al-Jilani, 25. He said the number of dead
remained at 10 while the injured stood at 114, of which 100 have left hospital
after receiving treatment.
“We are continuing our field survey of affected areas to
find missing people and make sure that no more people are trapped in flood
waters,” Al-Qarni said, adding that 1,688 officers are involved in search and
rescue operations.
The crisis management center of the Civil Defense has
provided accommodation to 5,054 families and 20,200 individuals who became
homeless following the floods. According to reports received by the center
until Tuesday, the floods destroyed 886 properties and 1,459 cars.
Al-Qarni said the Ministry of Finance has been distributing
meals to 300 families a day. He also reported that traffic is near normal in
most parts of Jeddah after the municipality removed rainwater. Security and
patrol police have intensified their presence in residential districts where
power has been cut off to prevent looting. The Saudi Electricity Company is
continuing its efforts to reconnect all affected customers.
Jeddah Municipality announced Tuesday that 70 percent of
flood water has been removed from Al-Samir and Baghdadiya, the two districts
that were most affected by the floods. "We have removed rainwater from
Naseem fully," a municipality official said.
Efforts are being made to remove water from the Jamia,
Aziziya and Um Al-Sulm districts. "We have deployed 2,800 workers to
repair damages caused by floods,” he said. The municipality has deployed 340
teams to spray insecticides in various parts of the city to kill
disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Speaking about efforts to remove water from Al-Samir, the
official said: "We’ve been removing 140,000 cubic meters of water a day
from the area using seven pumps.”
