Saudi Arabia witnesses natural calamities, including heavy rains, flashfloods and sandstorms at regular intervals. Whenever any region of the Kingdom is hit by a natural calamity, it immediately becomes clear that many government departments are ill-prepared to handle the emergency situation, according to a report in Alsharq Arabic daily. The heavy rain that lashed various regions of the Kingdom a few weeks ago revealed the lack of awareness among the general public about tackling such situations and their failure to extend any voluntary services. Despite the warning of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) about the impending heavy rains, the concerned government agencies were not in a position to handle them effectively. This also brought into the fore the poor state of the country's drainage system and infrastructure, which led to the flooding of main streets of major cities. Limited efforts A number of citizens blamed the authorities for the deaths of their loved ones and losses of property. Yahya Al-Habisi, a resident of Tihama Qahtan said: “There are no government offices to approach for help in the event of any natural calamity in the villages of Wadi Dahab located at the bottom of the mountainous region southeast of Asir. In the event of heavy rainfall, the villages remain isolated and there is no way to contact the Civil Defense forces or any other government department,” he said. Echoing the same view, villager Jabir Al-Qahtani said calamities mainly occur where there are poor infrastructure facilities and where local people lack the proper awareness on how to tackle such situations. “During the sandstorm season in the region, hospitals are flooded with patients suffering from respiratory diseases and there were chaotic situations because of the inability of these hospitals to handle such a large number of cases,” he said while noting that there are no contingency plans at hospitals on how to tackle such situations. Contingency plans Zuhair Nawab, president of the Saudi Geological Survey, said his organization is currently carrying out studies to determine how much each valley in the Kingdom is vulnerable to natural disasters. “The Survey's role is limited to preparing studies on how to tackle emergency situations caused by heavy rains and flashfloods. Coming up with solutions is the responsibility of other agencies,” he said while underlining the importance of working out emergency plans to deal with calamities by the concerned agencies. Saeed Al-Naqeer, media spokesman of Asir Health Affairs, said his department has prepared an emergency plan to handle natural calamities. “We put this plan into action immediately after we receive a warning about the possibility of a natural calamity striking. We then declare an emergency situation and mobilize our potentials at all government and private hospitals as well as health centers in the region. We also make available mobile medical teams to evacuate victims of floods, distribute medical supplies and enact preventive measures against the outbreak of contagious diseases,” he explained. PME forecasts Saleh Al-Shahri, deputy president of PME, said that the Presidency warns citizens of any extreme situations in its daily weather bulletins. “The Civil Defense Directorate has always been braced to take the necessary measures in line with PME warnings. There are some people, who do not have any official information, engaged in spreading panic with misleading information about weather conditions. Similar is the case with websites that are creating confusion among people,” he said while emphasizing that the PME is the only reliable and authorized source regarding weather forecasts in the Kingdom. Col. Muhammad Al-Asimi, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Asir region, said the directorate is spreading awareness via brochures, lectures and seminars on the appropriate measures to be taken in the event of natural disasters. — SG
