Heavy rains and floods here on Friday evening cut off at least four eastern districts – Ajwad, Samer, Manar, and Tawfiq – from the rest of Jeddah. The residents trying to reach their homes were seen stranded along the Haramain highway. The rains also choked the city streets, intersections, and residential areas, bringing in nearly two dozen reports of short-circuit incidents and power outages throughout the city. At least 32 traffic accidents but no casualties were reported. Prince Mish'al Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, has issued directives to all government agencies and other authorities to intensify efforts to monitor the after-effects of the rainfall. He called on them to expedite pumping out of water from streets in residential districts so that students appearing for examinations Saturday morning will not face any problems reaching their schools and colleges on time. Brig. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, Director of Civil Defense in Jeddah, said 22 rescue teams have been deployed in different districts to monitor flooded areas. The teams, he said, have tackled 22 incidents of short-circuits and rescued trapped people in lifts. Al-Ghamdi said a rescue team has been specifically deployed in the old Balad District to deal with any emergency case including house collapses. He said pumping sewage water into the sewage lake has been stopped in coordination with Jeddah Mayoralty and the sewage tankers have been diverted to Al-Khumrah Plant. Faisal Shawli, Director General of Operation and Maintenance in Jeddah Mayoralty and Secretary of the Rains Committee, said over 150 sewage tanker trucks have been deployed in different districts to pump out rain water. Corniche Tunnel closed Brig. Gen. Muhammad Bin Hasan Al-Qahtani, Chief of Jeddah Traffic Department, said the Corniche Tunnel in Balad has been closed to traffic due to heavy flooding. Teams have started pumping out water from the tunnel, however. He said a car fell into a ditch on Hera Street intersection with Al-Makarona Street. It was immediately removed and the driver escaped unhurt. He said 140 traffic police patrols are in the field to monitor the traffic flow across the city. Movement of ships normal Lt. Col. Saleh Bin Muhammad Al-Shihri, Chairman of Public Affairs in Makkah Region Coast Guard, said the movement of ships at Jeddah Islamic Port was normal. He said the ships arrived on time and the Operations Room did not receive any SOS messages.
