Mecca, Islam's holiest city in Saudi Arabia, was hit by heavy flooding on Monday after heavy rains.
movie Posted Reports by the Saudi public and media show entire neighborhoods submerged under water, residents forming human chains to rescue children from flooded homes, trees being washed away and trees stalled by deep water. Abandoned vehicles are shown.
Flooding was also reported in Medina, another of Islam's holiest sites, and Jeddah, a major Red Sea port city. In fact, Medina recorded the heaviest rainfall reported on Monday, at 49.2 mm. This is a debilitating downpour for the town. built It is located in an oasis surrounded by dry hills and lava fields.
india today explained The situation in Mecca is “turbulent” and rescue operations and damage control are at breaking point.
Saudi Arabia's National Center of Meteorology (NCM) predicted more rain and storms throughout the week, posing a threat of flooding to other cities, including the capital Riyadh. The NCM has issued a “red alert” for several areas, closing public spaces and schools.
Heavy rains last hit the region in April, killing 21 people in Oman and four in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE said these storms were the heaviest rainfall it had experienced in the past 75 years.
Jeddah, one of Saudi Arabia's most flood-prone cities, suffered severe flooding in 2009 that killed more than 100 people.
uk daily mail noticed Although Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are prone to heavy rains in the winter, and many cities are built on rocky or desert terrain that is difficult to absorb high levels of precipitation, “many cities' drainage systems are It is well known that the water and sewage facilities are underdeveloped.
Flood control in Jeddah does not particularly meet the needs of the coastal city, but complaints from residents remain unaddressed.
of daily mail He also mentioned rumors that excessive cloud cover by the UAE could be partly to blame for the excessive rainfall. Regional experts said the rains were too heavy to be explained by cloud formation and could increase seasonal rainfall by as much as 30%.
“The UAE actually has a cloud seeding program in place to increase rainfall in this arid region of the world. It doesn’t exist,” said Maarten Ambaum, professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Reading.
