year-old Shawkat's death in the floods was all too clear to see in the eyes of his neighbors and schoolmates. The students of the Pakistani school will take a long time to get over the death of their young friend, who was swept away by the flash floods at dawn last Wednesday, from one of the streets of Bahrah. He was in his fifth year of primary school. On that fateful day last week, he had gone out to enjoy the rainy weather with his father who had taken him on a leisurely drive. But what should have been a happy day outdoors ended in his sudden and horrific death. His bereaved father and mother, and six brothers, cannot overcome their deep sorrow. Shawkat's brother related what happened. “In the morning of that day, the streets of Bahrah were filled with fast-flowing water. Shawkat begged my father to go out on a drive and eventually he agreed. Shawkat chose to sit on the roof of my father's car, which was making its way with difficulty in the mud and flowing water. Suddenly it was swept away by the fast-flowing water which swallowed up the vehicle. The car was eventually stopped by a giant tree trunk. My father got out of the car to look for Shawkat but he was nowhere to be found. The citizens and volunteers started a search in the floods. My father later found Shawkat's body several meters away.” On the day that Okaz met the family, Shawkat's grief-stricken father had gone to the Pakistani consulate in Jeddah to arrange for the burial. The Pakistani family has been living in the Kingdom for the past 40 years. The father owns a tailoring shop in Bahrah. Shawkat was not the only person to die that day. Another victim of the floods in Bahrah was a Yemeni man who was electrocuted. People who knew the dead man, said he sold foul at one of the nearby restaurants. The Yemeni national, 59, was sleeping in his house with his son, when water seeped into his room and caused an electrical fault. The man's friends and colleagues at the restaurant expressed sorrow at his death. The scenes in Bahrah were not much different to those in many other parts of Jeddah. When the sun reappeared after the deluge on Wednesday, it showed the magnitude of the damage and losses. Many huge trucks were piled on top of one another on both sides of the streets. Some of the truck drivers had converted the drivers' cabin into living and cooking quarters. The road to Hada is rugged and difficult and the place cannot be reached easily. Despite this, the Civil Defense authorities doubled their field presence at all the affected locations. According to Lt. Col. Muhammad Saleh Al-Ghamdi, Civil Defense Director in Bahrah, 12 rescue teams and many giant machines and rubber boats participated in the evacuation, rescue and shelter of victims. He said over 482 people were rescued after being stranded in dangerous areas.
