Heavy rains and resulting flooding in Jazan Province yesterday led to the death of a child and a power outage for up to 12 hours in some places. People had to break their fast and have suhoor by candlelight, while some mosques canceled the Taraweeh prayer as air-conditioners could not be operated.
In Abu Areesh, the heavy rains led to the formation of small lakes in several neighborhoods, reflecting the failure of the drainage projects that had recently been carried out. The inundations led to traffic jams as vehicles stalled.
Some residents blamed the flooding on the the projects’ contractor, who had delayed the implementation of several projects.
Civil Defense spokesman Musleh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi said the streams in the valleys were taking their natural course. He said the Civil Defense received information that someone had fallen down a valley near the town of Al-Haqu. A Civil Defense team rushed to the site but it was too late. A 4-year-old boy had fallen into a rainwater-swollen channel in Al-Tafsha Valley and drowned by the time they arrived. Heavy rains had turned the dry rainwater channel into a stream of raging torrent.
The chief of the Civil Defense department in Jazan, Hasan bin Ali Al-Qufaily, sent safety patrols to warn people against entering valleys.
The Jazan branch administrator of the Ministry of Water and Electricity, E. Mohammed Al-Ojaibi, apologized to those affected by the disruption of electricity caused by the storms and lightnings in the villages south of Abu Areesh, pointing out that maintenance teams were working to restore electricity to some areas which are still without power.
Rains cause heavy flooding in Jazan; boy drowns
