JEDDAH: For Moneera, a working Saudi woman, going from her home to the workplace took 10 times what it usually takes because of the rains that recently fell on Jeddah.

The half hour it takes to reach her home, despite congestion on the road, was extended on that rainy day to five hours. She was forced to seek the help of taxi drivers on Andalus Street after her car broke down.

Saja, another female employee, needed three hours to get home.

They were not the only women who faced trouble because of the rains as the majority of companies did not declare a holiday for their employees, despite a warning from the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection. Once the rains started, they gave authorizations for employees to go home, but it was too late.

Another female employee, Maha, decided that her friend’s house was nearer to the place where she worked, saying: “It was very difficult for me to reach my house so I chose to go to my friend’s after hearing that the streets were flooding.”

Khalid Aba-Alkhail, spokesman for the Ministry of Labor, was quoted as saying by a local publication: “The ministry does not intervene in the working of private sector companies, especially on the issue of granting employees a day or two off because of weather conditions."