Saudi Arabia: Devastating flash floods in Jeddah

by Tauqeer Abbas
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The devastating flash floods on Thursday in Jeddah left two people dead and a scene of widespread damage to public properties and vehicles.

Sajin Saleem was returning home to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah from Qatar where he was attending a World Cup match.

Arriving at King Abdulaziz Airport as heavy rain flooded the coastal city on Thursday, he waited for hours to get a taxi but to no avail.

In the end, he was given a ride by another traveller driving back from the airport, who dropped Saleem off 6km from his home as the car couldn’t drive further due to the high water levels.

Wading through knee-deep water and carrying his luggage over his head, Saleem finally made it home.

No damage was caused by the floodwater to his fifth-floor flat, but his brand-new Chinese-made Changan car, parked on the ground floor, was submerged in mud that filled it up to the steering wheel.

As Jeddah residents slowly recover from the record flash flood – which resulted from 179 millimetres of rainfall – many like Saleem are struggling to get their vehicles up and running again in a city that has no effective public transport system.

Source : middleeasteye , Shafaqna English 

www.shafaqna.com

 

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