Although only mild to moderate rain fell in Jeddah on Sunday, several potholes appeared, raising questions about the state of the city’s infrastructure, particularly in its older neighborhoods.

There were potholes in Al-Baghdadiyah, Ghaleel, downtown Jeddah, Souq Muhammad and Marwah 1. Several drivers damaged their cars when they drove into the large pools of water in low-lying areas.

Sami Nawar, spokesman for the Jeddah mayoralty, acknowledged that the city’s projects and roads department had failed to adequately address the issue.

“Jeddah is among the areas most adversely affected by rain, despite the many new road and infrastructure projects built recently. Today we received more than 500 complaints regarding potholes filled with large quantities of rainwater in the streets. We responded promptly and sent equipment to pump the water out of the holes,” he said.

“This year, we took extra precautions for emergencies including having an operations room open around the clock. Water is pumped from the major intersections of the low-lying areas within six hours after the rain stops. It usually takes up to 24 hours to pump water from the main roads and about 48 hours from the inner streets,” he said.

He said the department dealing with rainfall and flooding includes the police, security patrols, meteorology department, traffic department, Civil Defense, the water company, the electricity company, and the Ministry of Transport.

Lt. Col. Zaid Al-Hamzi, spokesman for the Jeddah Traffic Department, said that the department’s operations room received more than 70 reports about minor accidents due to the rain, especially in the city’s old neighborhoods. “As usual, the accidents occurred because of brake failure. The brakes of a car seize up when they are immersed in water for a long time,” he said.