JEDDAH — One person drowned while another 35 people were trapped when heavy rains struck many villages in Rabegh, according to the Makkah Region Civil Defense. Those trapped in Mastourah, one of the villages hit hardest by the heavy rains, were rescued by firefighters, said regional Civil Defense spokesman Col. Saeed Sarhan, adding the drowned person was from the same village and has not been identified yet. All neighborhoods of Al-Abwaa Town were affected while traffic flow on the Yanbu-Rabegh Expressway was disrupted when the streets filled with rainwater. One family who lost their house to the floods was provided with another house. Col. Sarhan said students from 13 schools in Rabegh and Al-Kamil governorates closed early after Civil Defense sent warnings about heavy rainfall in the area. He pointed out the general public has become more aware of how to deal with heavy rainfall, adding that people living in hard-hit areas stayed away from valleys. Brig. Muhammad Al-Zahrani, assistant head of security aircraft for Makkah Civil Defense, said two aircraft, one from Jeddah and the other from Rabegh, made short flight trips and one of them was able to save a trapped person in Mastourah Valley.
