During the past few years when the streets and tunnels of Riyadh and Dammam were submerged and Jeddah's east side was underwater due to what can only be described as light rain, it was only a matter of time before villages and hamlets were susceptible to flooding by an equally less amount of rainwater. Keeping all of this in mind, the flooding of a small town like Buraidah this year caused by light rain in which floodwaters swept away cars, caused massive blackouts and flooding of both homes and businesses was only expected. Similarly, it was only natural that an official, who did not belong to the Buraidah Municipality, tried to be a hero by telling local residents that there was a problem with the town's rainwater drainage network. Residents did not need anyone to tell them what the problem was because they could see it with their own eyes. The good thing is that no one asked the eternal question: Is rain a punishment or a blessing? When several children lost their lives in the rains and floods that happened in Jeddah, some people said the children drowned because they were “morally corrupt” while others said the children paid the price of the corruption of their parents. The not so good thing is that the media does not learn from its past mistakes – someone is bound to ask again: Where did the budgets allocated for the sewage projects during the past 40 years go? Did contractors the municipality used not do their jobs? What is particularly frustrating is that we may read after some time that the country's municipalities have earmarked new funds to establish underpasses and rainwater drainage systems. We may also read that the municipalities have signed contracts with a number of contractors for maintenance work. But all will be revealed when rain descends upon us once again. What is painful and saddening is that a day may come when the residents of our cities and towns will be terrified by rain. They may make supplications for the rain to stop. Is this the direction where a country that depends on rain water wants to go in?
