MADINAH/JEDDAH, 23 January 2005 — Traffic slogged to a halt as heavy rains flooded roads and neighborhoods in the Jeddah-Madinah corridor, prompting helicopter rescue operations to save Eid campers from rising waters.

Heavy rains fell on Madinah from midnight Friday causing floods and major problems in some parts of Madinah and isolating villages outside the city. Many valleys around Madinah were filled with water. Some villages and areas around Madinah, such as the Wadi Farie and Al-Yatma areas were totally isolated. Helicopter teams from the fire department were dispatched in rescue operations supported by ground teams.

In Jeddah, what had been a light drizzle overnight shortly after noon, turned into an hourlong downpour that forced drivers to the roadside as visibility worsened.

Many cars were stranded on flooded roads, including Madianh, Sitteen, Palestine and Tahlia, as well as in downtown Balad and Mahjer districts.

“Rain at this time of year is not unusual. In fact, we’ve been expecting one, though not with the intensity with which it poured,” an official at the Meteorology and Environmental Protection Administration (MEPA) told Arab News. But you didn’t need to be a weatherman to know this storm was a little unusual.

“I haven’t seen such a hard rain for a long time in Madinah,” said Yasser Abdul Aziz, an area resident. “I was stranded inside my car. Most roads in Madinah are paralyzed and filled with water. It’s impassable. Al-Aziziyah, the neighborhood where I live, is totally flooded.”

Meanwhile, Madinah authorities are bracing for Hajis who have completed the pilgrimage and plan to make the city their next stop. The Madinah police have been placed on full alert to handle the huge crowd that will arrive in the coming days, and the MEPA has forecast more rains.

In Jeddah, the rain brought traffic to a halt. “I was driving on Sitteen Street northward when I was caught in the heavy downpour,” said Riyaz Siddiqui, a Pakistani media executive.

“The visibility was so poor that I could hardly see the car ahead of me, although it had its tail lamps and hazard lights on,” he said. “So I stopped my car on the hard shoulder and waited for the rain to stop.”

Stranded motorists on flooded roads in Mahjer and on Sitteen Street and Madinah Road made desperate bids to restart their engines. Cars that didn’t start were pushed with the help of boys from the neighborhoods. The rain dampened the plans of many people.

“After each rain, mostly all the people of Madinah go to open land to enjoy the weather and winds,” said Mustafa Hajaji, a resident of the holy city. But when he tried to go to Al-Bedah, about 20 km outside of the city center, he was turned back. “The road was blocked by police and teams from the fire department. They prevented us from going, saying the place was flooded,” Hajaji said.

“We heard that people who were camping in the area since Eid Al-Adha were stranded by floodwaters and that there is a rescue operation to bring them to safety.”

For some of the younger crowd in Jeddah, the rain created a very large water fun park and didn’t dampen their enthusiasm in the least.

Some teens chose to enjoy the rain by driving through flooded streets. “This is an automatic wash for my car,” said Muhammad Hafiz on one of the Faisaliah roads.

Children also were seen swimming in makeshift ponds created by the rain, especially in the southern and downtown areas.

“Our children enjoyed the rain; this is the kind they experience back home,” said Aslam Sharifuddin, an Indian resident said.

An evening tour of Jeddah showed that most of the intersections in southern and central parts of the city were waterlogged. Among the worst was the Bicycle Roundabout, where vehicles were seen negotiating with their wheels submerged in water. Some of the buildings with false roofing reported heavy leakage of rainwater. An attendant was seen collecting water coming from the roof in a supermarket near the Bicycle Roundabout.

With most of the offices, schools and commercial establishments closed for the Haj season, not many residents ventured out.

“We chose to remain indoors rather than drive on the flooded roads,” Saudi businessman Muhammad Al-Faleh said. “In fact, we had decided to spend the evening on the Corniche, but now that’s impossible. “It’s wet all over.”