Saved! Civil Defense staff rescue residents of Al-Samir district, in the east of Jeddah, Saturday after they were stranded by the heavy rain which hit the city Friday night. (Saudi Gazette photo by Aamer Trambu) Water everywhere! Vehicles and pedestrians attempt to navigate flooded streets in central Jeddah Saturday which were inundated when heavy rains hit the city. (Saudi Gazette photo by Badr Al-Asmary) JEDDAH: Heavy rains that fell late Friday night and continued into early Saturday morning hit flood-prone areas severely and caused traffic disruption across the city. Residents in the eastern districts of Al-Samir and Al-Towfiq were inundated by the heavy showers. Hussam Al-Thaqafi's family could not leave their home because the water level had risen. He was unable to attend his job interview Saturday morning because he had to rush back to rescue his family. His family called him when they realized they were trapped because the water had risen 1.5 meters. They had no way of getting out. “I personally went to the municipality of the Samir District and pleaded with them to get water tankers to drain the water from my area. I told them the situation was dire, my family was stranded and they needed to act immediately. The officials looked at me and asked me to call the Civil Defense instead; they said they could not help me in this matter. I left feeling helpless,” Al-Thaqafi told Saudi Gazette. The Civil Defense arrived in Samir district Saturday morning with three inflatable boats and trained emergency staff to help rescue Al-Thaqafi's family and other residents and row them to safety. The rescue efforts continued throughout the day. Jam'an Al-Jadani, a member of the Saudi military, came to Samir District to meet his relatives. He had heard about the heavy rains and rushed there to see if they were fine. He was skeptical about the general drainage infrastructure in the area. “Every time rain falls in Jeddah, residents of this area are in trouble. The municipality does nothing to improve the situation. Whenever residents of this area hear about a rain forecast in Jeddah, they leave this area the night before to stay safe,” he said. The Jeddah municipality said in a press statement, “We have closed the underpass of Amir Majed Street at the Rawdah Street and Heraa Street intersections. We are taking the necessary precautions in cooperation with the traffic department and are placing water pumps and trucks wherever necessary”. An angry resident, however, called Saudi Gazette and said, “Pumps installed by the municipality in an underpass on the King Abdullah Road in Sharafiyah district are out of order causing a complete blockage of the underpass as usual. The city needs a better flood response system,” he said. Residents of Quwaizah heaved a sigh of relief as there were no floods in that eastern region of Jeddah. Ahmed Rahbani, an official of the Jeddah municipality, was supervising the pumping of flood water that had collected around a school in Quwaizah and he told Saudi Gazette he was relieved that the situation was under control, “There were no heavy floods in Quwaizah and no destruction. Yes, there is water on the streets, in parks and other areas but there is nothing to worry about.” Hussain Al-Qahtani, the spokesman for the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment said, “The wind speed last night was 40 kilometers an hour, while the rain water level was 42 millimeters. We expect the situation to be better on Sunday. No further rain is expected anytime soon but in case it does rain it will be a light rainfall and gives us no cause to worry.” Al-Qahtani said. He also said that temperature across the Makkah Region will see a fall and the weather will be cooler. Visitors at the Corniche witnessed hours of lightning and thunder in the evening but it was only about 10:30 P.M. that it started raining in Jeddah. According to unofficial reports clouds came in from the west covering the entire city in a rain shower.
