Civil Defense receives 42,000 emergency calls

The Civil Defense received this week more than 42,000 emergency calls, 55 percent of which were about people stranded inside their vehicles in floodwater.
Director-General of Civil Defense Lt. Gen. Saad Al-Tuwaijri said traffic accident reports accounted for 40 percent, while 10 percent of people were stranded inside houses, rest houses and valleys and 5 percent reported electricity-related malfunctions, communication network disruptions and drowning.
He said these reports were dealt with by more than 700 field units supported by 40 Ministry of Interior and military helicopters that carried out search-and-rescue operations. The field units evacuated people, provided lodging and delivered foodstuff and medical supplies to villages cut off by flash floods.
He said department personnel rescued 6,362 people and had 4,544 people accommodated after they were evacuated from their homes that were damaged by heavy rains in several cities and governorates.
Rescuers retrieved the bodies of 24 people during the same period.
The 18 bodies that constitute the Civil Defense Council coordinated in executing emergency plans dealing with heavy rains and floods and providing lodging, supplies and medical services to those affected.
An official from the Water Administration in the Baha province said the rainfall in the Aqiq governorate had been so heavy that it made the dam overflow for the first time in 26 years.




Deputy Director-General of the Water Administration Ahmed Al-Qurashi said the water officials were keen on preserving every drop of water in the dam’s reservoir.