Flash floods in Saudi kill 16, civil defense says

[al-Hasani]

well it depend on the situation . its practical to made such system in cities and to some extent to the villages but what about people who live in desert ? are you gonna to made such system in all of the mountain and deserts of KSA ?

and contrary to peoples beliefs KSA may be a wealthy country bt like anybody else their resources are limited , they can only spend to some extent on each project.

Exactly. It is extremely difficult to built it all over the country. This cannot happen with countries that are as big as KSA. Neither with India, USA (even them), China, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other very big countries in the Middle East and outside of it.

The mountain areas are of a very big size in total. To make drainage systems in every single village would take A LOT of time and a lot of cost. There are already over 250 dams in KSA, especially in the Western, Southern and mountainous parts of the country and more are getting built.

The deserts in KSA are not flat but all largely hilly or even have mountainous landscape. Even the Empty Quarter has large sand dunes. The Empty Quarter is the only true sand desert but nobody lives there apart from a tiny population of Bedouins. There are no roads there either or villages. The remaining "desert areas" all have hilly, mountainous landscapes and have often volcanic soils and hundreds of villages and oasis. Flooding there is not a problem unless the village is situated near mountains/hills that could move heavy rainfall downwards and create flooding.

Villages as seen below are often situated on the hills rather than in valleys exactly due to the fear of flooding which has been known to occur since ancient times.

As seen in Ha'il which is in Northwestern KSA and has a altitude of over 1000 m. It was impacted exactly by that and all surrounding villages.

So what must be done and be obligatory is to make drainage systems in all major cities. This is affordable and in a country of KSA wealth and infrastructure it should have been done much earlier.

The weather is only going to get more extreme in the Middle East so the infrastructure should reflect that everywhere.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Floods sweep across Switzerland

BBC News - Man killed in Austrian mudslides

BBC News - Italy floods: Tuscany and Umbria take brunt of rain

Norway

God it make me want to challenge people when they saying in Europe and USA everything is rosy and we must be just like them

Correct. Most European countries with either big rivers or mountains have experienced deadly flooding. Dams that could not handle the masses of water as well.

Anyway this is not a excuse for KSA or the region to develop proper drainage systems in all major cities or those major cities who lack it or where it is not sufficient enough.

Also the weather can sometimes not be controlled no matter how good the engineering have been or what precautions that have been taken.

 

[Dubious]

BBC NEWS | Europe | Floods sweep across Switzerland

BBC News - Man killed in Austrian mudslides

BBC News - Italy floods: Tuscany and Umbria take brunt of rain

Norway

God it make me want to challenge people when they saying in Europe and USA everything is rosy and we must be just like them

@JEskandari I didnt say it is rosy...Plus I did say that there are drainage systems....investments are needed....However, maybe you did not notice the cities you mentioned in your posts, All are villages...

Besides I am not saying that West is all good, but why are you negative? Is it wrong to ask a govt to improve to save more lives?

 

[al-Hasani]

@JEskandari I didnt say it is rosy...Plus I did say that there are drainage systems....investments are needed....However, maybe you did not notice the cities you mentioned in your posts, All are villages...

Besides I am not saying that West is all good, but why are you negative? Is it wrong to ask a govt to improve to save more lives?

This is very correct, dear Talon. Moreover a dam was destroyed in Southern KSA during the flooding to make matters even worse!

 

[T-123456]

الله برحمهم ويصبر اهلهم

What's wrong with Saudi infrastructure? This is becoming a norm to have floods and victims every year.. That's a shame,

If it happens suddenly with that much water,no infrastructure can help you.
Sometimes even here in the Netherlands we have floods(best water control in the world)

 

[al-Hasani]

If it happens suddenly with that much water,no infrastructure can help you.
Sometimes even here in the Netherlands we have floods(best water control in the world)

I have visited those dams in Netherlands. It was quite impressive. But the flooding in Netherlands is only caused due to the Netherlands being such a low lying country (close to sea water level) and not because of heavy rainfalls or rainfalls who occur in the mountains just to cause flooding in the valleys below/cities afterwards. So it's a totally different matter.

It is more comparable to what is/has happened in the Alps, Pyrenees etc.

 

[Hack-Hook]

I have visited those dams in Netherlands. It was quite impressive. But the flooding in Netherlands is only caused due to the Netherlands being such a low lying country (close to sea water level) and not because of heavy rainfalls or rainfalls who occur in the mountains just to cause flooding in the valleys below/cities afterwards. So it's a totally different matter.

It is more comparable to what is/has happened in the Alps, Pyrenees etc.

its great underestimation to say Netherlands is close to sea level .1/3 of that country is below sea level. and without those wall and dams will go under water.

 

[al-Hasani]

its great underestimation to say Netherlands is close to sea level .1/3 of that country is below sea level. and without those wall and dams will go under water.

Yes, sorry this is very correct. They have built huge dams and sea barriers outside the coast to protect all the coastal areas. I visited one of such dams 2-3 years ago.

The Dutch are leading in the world in terms of both dams and sea barriers. Many can learn a lot from them. Is there often flooding in Iran? And if yes this is probably also mostly in the mountain areas as in KSA and Yemen, right?

 

[T-123456]

I have visited those dams in Netherlands. It was quite impressive. But the flooding in Netherlands is only caused due to the Netherlands being such a low lying country (close to sea water level) and not because of heavy rainfalls or rainfalls who occur in the mountains just to cause flooding in the valleys below/cities afterwards. So it's a totally different

It is more comparable to what is/has happened in the Alps, Pyrenees etc.

Well there you are wrong,if there are heavy rains in france we get the problems,many rivers(the rein and maas get crazy and many floods here)go overboard and bye bye my city.
I live there so i should know,if a river goes crazy theres nothing you can do.
Some times 10 meters over normal then you can forget it,a flood you cant stop.
BTW,my city is 0000000 level so no over or under sea level.

 

[al-Hasani]

Well there you are wrong,if there are heavy rains in france we get the problems,many rivers(the rein and maas get crazy and many floods here)go overboard and bye bye my city.
I live there so i should know,if a river goes crazy theres nothing you can do.
Some times 10 meters over normal then you can forget it,a flood you cant stop.

Well regarding the rivers then those only impact a minority of Netherlands? I mean the majority is probably still due to the sea, no? I mean what are all these sea barriers for then? Also they must go through Belgium first I guess?

What is your city? Maastricht? Rotterdam? Are those not the only big cities that have a river that flow between them?

 

[T-123456]

Well regarding the rivers then those only impact a minority of Netherlands? I mean the majority is probably still due to the sea, no? I mean what are all these sea barriers for then? Also they must go through Belgium first I guess?

What is your city? Maastricht? Rotterdam? Are those not the only big cities that have a river that flow between them?

Rivers are a bigger problem then the sea,the sea is somehow ''under control''.
A river,you allmost cant control.
My city is near Maastricht(Venlo),the MAAS river is the one that goes thru my city.
Look at the Netherlands map,all you see is water.

 

[al-Hasani]

Rivers are a bigger problem then the sea,the sea is somehow ''under control''.
A river,you allmost cant control.
My city is near Maastricht(Venlo),the MAAS river is the one that goes thru my city.
Look at the Netherlands map,all you see is water.

Thanks. I thought it was mostly the sea during tides etc. as in the old days. I remember reading about this in school once. I guess the rivers are only a problem in parts of Netherlands and not all?

 

[T-123456]

Thanks. I thought it was mostly the sea during tides etc. as in the old days. I remember reading about this in school once. I guess the rivers are only a problem in parts of Netherlands and not all?

We have places to flood when high tides come or big storms,they let water thru and flood some lands so that the level is somewhat equal.
Yes,rivers are more problems for the middle and the south of the Netherlands.

 

[al-Hasani]

We have places to flood when high tides come or big storms,they let water thru and flood some lands so that the level is somewhat equal.
Yes,rivers are more problems for the middle and the south of the Netherlands.

Aha. How often do floods occur? I rarely ever hear about any floods in Netherlands. Apart from tides/storms around the coast.

Anyway the Netherlands, when impacted by flooding, is completely different that what we see in KSA, Yemen, the Alps and Pyrenees although I am sure that Netherlands could provide guidance for all those regions since they have age long experience with flooding.

 

[T-123456]

Aha. How often do floods occur? I rarely ever hear about any floods in Netherlands. Apart from tides/storms around the coast.

Anyway the Netherlands, when impacted by flooding, is completely different that what we see in KSA, Yemen, the Alps and Pyrenees although I am sure that Netherlands could provide guidance for all those regions since they have age long experience with flooding.

If then mostly in january,last big one was in 1993 i believe.
Since then they build some concrete walls in the city,but some villages around my city still see some flooding.
Its surely is different from KSA,here the water comes slow so people can take measures.

 

[Marshmallow]

RIP....