Jeddah flood drainage ‘inadequate’

JEDDAH: In a shocking admission, the Governorate of Makkah has confirmed that the flooding of streets and tunnels was the direct result of “a lack of adequate rainwater drainage systems at these sites.”
“Jeddah needs comprehensive water drainage in its streets and tunnels,” said Sultan Al-Dosari, spokesman of the governorate, according to a report in a local publication on Thursday.
The admission comes six years after the 2009 floods that resulted in the loss of over 100 lives and billions of riyals in damage to homes, cars and public infrastructure. There were subsequently promises made to revamp the entire storm water drainage system.
Two years ago, Ahmed Al-Suleim, the director general of the rainwater drainage project, announced work on “eight different projects to put in place durable solutions to address rainwater flooding, including the establishment of dams, expansion of sewage pipes, and new channels to drain rainwater,” all to be completed within weeks.
There have been several multibillion-riyal flood-prevention projects announced by Jeddah’s mayors over the past four decades, but the results of these efforts and expenditures remain to be seen, the report in the publication stated.
On Wednesday, a picture of a statement apparently taken from the official government gazette years ago went viral on Twitter. The statement said that work would begin shortly on a SR600-million rainwater drainage system in Jeddah, to be completed within six months.
Meanwhile, the Presidency for Meteorology and Environment (PME) has warned that there would likely be further unstable conditions across the country starting Nov. 22, including cold spells and rain.
The PME said that there would be active southerly winds and dust along the western parts of the central region and northern border areas.
Medium-to-heavy thunderstorms are expected in the Northern Border and Hail regions on Sunday and Monday, according to a report in a local publication. There would also be unstable conditions in the Eastern Province on Monday and Tuesday, and thunderstorms next week in Qassim, Riyadh, parts of Madinah and Makkah.
A wave of bitterly cold air is poised to affect the northern part of the Kingdom starting from next Tuesday.
The PME has urged the public including fishermen and motorists to take extra precautions, and to closely follow weather reports. It said earlier this week it had sent out 20 million SMSs to citizens and residents warning them of weather conditions in Jeddah, and to stay indoors.
Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the PME, said there was 22 to 24 mm of rain in Jeddah, with King Abdulaziz International Airport recording 22 mm on Tuesday. Al-Qahtani said the presidency also sends warning messages to 16 government agencies. He said the current weather was typical of autumn in the Kingdom, and might continue until the end of the season.
Meanwhile, the Civil Defense in Jeddah has warned on its Twitter account that it is “madness” for people to swim in floodwaters. This comes as a video went viral showing some citizens and expatriates swimming in flooded Jeddah streets.