Flooding in Saudi Arabia

People look at a flooded street after heavy rain in Tabuk, 932 miles from Riyadh. (Mohamed Alhwaity/Reuters)

A Saudi man sits near his home on a flooded street. (Mohamed Alhwaity/Reuters)

People wade down a flooded street after heavy rain in Tabuk. (Mohamed Alhwaity/Reuters)

Saudi man looks at a flooded street after heavy rain in Tabuk. (Mohamed Alhwaity/Reuters)

* Water Overwhelms a Saudi Arabian Town [Atlantic Cities: 29 Jan 2013]

The average rainfall in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, is about a quarter of an inch in January. This makes the flash flood that struck yesterday all the more overwhelming. English news reports on yesterday’s floods are scarce, but here are scenes of homes and streets filled with water.

* Saudi Arabia evacuates 659 families from Tabuk due to floods [People's Daily Online: 30 Jan 2013]

RIYADH, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — The Saudi authorities had to evacuate a total of 659 families living in four neighborhoods in Tabuk city in northwestern part of the country, due to floods resulting from heavy rains that continued for three days, according to Al Hayat newspaper on Wednesday.
The evacuees were accommodated in alternative apartments, a move taken to protect their lives after rain water entered their homes. Furthermore, several main roads in the city are blocked by water.
“Operations are being carried out to bring situations back to normal and allow the evacuated residents to go back to their homes, ” Civil Defense Spokesman Colonel Mamdooh Al Onizi told the newspaper.
The Saudi Ministry of Education ordered to transfer students from the damaged schools in the city to nearby schools to avoid affecting their study as of Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Saudi National Anti-Corruption Commission will send a team to the city to get acquainted with real reasons for the drowning of the four residential areas.

* Flooding in Saudi Arabia [Reuters: 31 Jan 2013]

Torrential flooding hits parts of Saudi Arabia.

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See also about Saudi Arabia Floods

* 2012; April: Saudi Arabia: flash floods kills 18 in different parts of the country: by Andrey Eroshin on April 18, 2012

* 2011; January:  Flooding in Saudi Arabia kills 10 – CNN.com

Vehicles are piled up following heavy rains and floods in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia on January 27, 2011

(CNN) — Torrential flooding this week in the western Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah continues to disrupt life in the region as schools were set to close on Saturday, according to the nation’s state news.

Rescue operations were ongoing and at least 10 people died related to the flooding, with three missing in Jeddah, said Director General of Civil Defense, General Saad bin Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri, according to state news Saudi Press Agency Friday.

Ground teams rescued 1,451 people, helicopters rescued 498 residents, and more than 1,500 families were provided temporary shelter, according to Al-Tuwaijri.

Jeddah province received 111 mm (4 inches) of rain in three hours on Wednesday, according to the King Abdulaziz University’s Meteorology Department.

After taking a tour of flood-ravaged areas of Jeddah on Thursday, the Governor of Makkah Region, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal told reporters that damage was attributed to the lack of a drainage system for flooding and rain water.

He said helicopters rescued 466 people by air on Wednesday night and ground teams evacuuted 951 residents from the worst hit neighborhoods of Jeddah — Altawfeeq, Alsamer, Alnakheel, Alhamrah, Alkandarah and Ummal Khair.

Video from Jeddah showed rushing water through the streets carrying cars and people downstream. Shops and offices were closed and boarded up to try and prevent the flooding from reaching inside buildings.

Approximately 5,000 residents remained without power as of Thursday afternoon after power was restored to 65,000 customers, according to the Saudi Electricity Company, as reported by SPA.

In November of 2009, nearly 100 people died from flooding in western Saudi Arabia. The deaths occurred the port city of Jeddah, Rabigh, north of Jeddah, and in the Mecca region, Saudi authorities said. The flooding was during the Hajj pilgrimage, but no pilgrims were killed on their journey.

CNN Weather reports did not forecast more rain for Jeddah for the weekend.

* 2009 Jeddah floods – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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