Civil Defense Personnel and vehicles have been mobilized to deal with torrential rains that lashed Makkah Saturday. The teams were drafted to deal with floods which blocked four major roads, flooded three valleys and trapped eight people in high waters. The torrential rainfall was compounded by preceding dusty winds which hit Makkah and reduced visibility. Freak weather conditions also included pelting hailstones and loud claps of thunder. Brig. Jameel Arbaeen, Head of Makkah Civil Defense, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the emergency unit received many calls from beleaguered residents. “We received 15 emergency calls regarding power outages, five calls concerning cracked walls in some buildings and eight calls from people who got stuck in the water.” The civil defense implemented emergency plans and teams were dispatched to key districts to help citizens and avert possible accidents. Brig. Arbaeen has urged “citizens and residents to be careful and stay away from flood waterways and dangerous places.” Lt. Col. Ali Al-Muntashiri, Makkah Civil Defense spokesman and Director of Investigations said, “Fifty teams were dispatched and 200,000 warning SMS were sent to citizen's cell phones.” The heavy rain flooded the emergency room of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital and caused electric short circuits throughout the building. Poor maintenance was blamed but fortunately no major damage or injury to patients occurred. Dr. Osama Fadl Al-Bar, Mayor of Makkah, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the Mayoralty “will implement two new projects at a total cost of SR80 million to protect Shara'yeh and Awali districts and new drain canal projects will begin next week.” __
