Flash floods in Saudi kill 16, civil defense says

[al-Hasani]

Makkah floods: Governor leads relief efforts

Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah​

MAKKAH: IRFAN MOHAMMED

Published — Sunday 11 May 2014

Last update 11 May 2014 2:25 am

Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah has ordered the formation of an emergency committee to study and follow up on the floods caused by torrential rains that battered Makkah on Thursday.
Prince Mishaal also held an emergency meeting with officials at the Makkah Development Authority and security entities to discuss relief measures.
He heard detailed reports about the damages caused by the floods, in addition to efforts to ease the impact, while reviewing procedures that should be followed in such circumstances.
He called on authorities to double efforts to protect lives and property and offer help to people who have been affected by the floods.
“There is no excuse for officials failing to carry out their duties,” he said. “Officials should make use of every available facility to engage in public service.”
Ahmad Abdullah Al-Zaid, director-general of the flood projects at the Makkah Municipality, said that the Makkah governor has directed authorities to increase their efforts in helping out in the aftermath of the floods.
“Around 50 percent of our annual average rainfall, which varies between 80mm and 100mm, fell within two hours,” he said.
Al-Zaid said that heavy rains fell on a major street where construction work was taking place.
The accumulation of water from neighboring valleys and ongoing work in nearby mountains contributed to the increase in water flow, he said.
“Construction work on the Transport Ministry’s circular road toward Madinah created a new flood path, which altered the course of the water flow,” he said.
“The governor has ordered the removal of construction waste and accumulated water, which has been completely removed.”
Al-Zaid said more than 60 percent of Makkah’s neighborhoods are covered by a comprehensive sewage network and that the municipality is working to complete the rest of the project under the direct supervision of Makkah’s governor.
Work has begun in inner neighborhoods to prevent water from gathering inside the main roads of these residential areas.
He stressed the existence of cement barriers in various locations to curb soil erosion on the city’s main roads.
“Damage has been limited to two locations and the recent rains haven’t affected any of the roads and neighborhoods inside Makkah,” he said.
“We have been working around the clock on restoration and repair works since Friday,” Osama Al-Zaytouni of the Makkah Municipality said on Saturday.
“We have deployed 3,920 personnel, backed with 140 pieces of machinery, to clear the roads to restore vehicular movement. We do, however, admit that the severity of the rains caused a delay in these relief operations.”
Civil defense authorities, meanwhile, have announced that they are still receiving claims for compensatory damage due to the rains.
“More than 60 vehicle owners have made claims,” according Col. Saeed Sarhan of the Civil Defense.
“Special patrolling teams have been deployed on valleys in the Taif region.”

Makkah floods: Governor leads relief efforts | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.

Please change the thread to "Flooding in KSA" .

@Marshmallow

This is very old news dear. I just don't want to start a new thread. Better to use one that already deals with flooding in KSA and change its thread title to what I proposed. Don't you think?

 

[anonymus]

While it may sound like a counterfactual, but Desert areas have much higher chances of flood compared to any other landscape.


While rainfall may be less in deserts, but when it rains there is no topsoil to absorb rain and neither has any vegetation to slow ot down therefore any rainfall in higher altitudes is going to come down with great momentum and with much shorted time lag than in vegetated area.

These water carry huge amount of mud ( due to their momentum as sediment carrying capacity varies with fourth power of velocity ) and form alluvial fans at foothill which act as reservoirs of water in desert ( as water is trapped between layer of mud )

 

[al-Hasani]

While it may sound like a counterfactual, but Desert areas have much higher chances of flood compared to any other landscape.


While rainfall may be less in deserts, but when it rains there is no topsoil to absorb rain and neither has any vegetation to slow ot down therefore any rainfall in higher altitudes is going to come down with great momentum and with much shorted time lag than in vegetated area.

These water carry huge amount of mud ( due to their momentum as sediment carrying capacity varies with fourth power of velocity ) and form alluvial fans at foothill which act as reservoirs of water in desert ( as water is trapped between layer of mud )

This is correct but in most of the areas that are flooded there is plenty of vegetation and even forests. Don't forget that KSA have the highest amount of palm groves and literary millions of palm trees and even the deserts have a lot of greenery and plants especially during the spring and other periods of the year.

Most of the cities hit by flooding, such as Riyadh for instance, are located on plateaus. They are not surrounded by mountains or higher points. That situation mostly occurs in Hijaz where only the interior is desert aside from Makkah which is the warmest city in KSA and it has a special climate due to lying in a valley.

But obviously the soil has a great deal to say and sometimes its lack of absorbing rainwater. Especially big amounts of water like this Thursday.

 

[Pakistanisage]

Innallahi wa Inna Alayhi Rajeoun...

Sad News...

 

[al-Hasani]

Innallahi wa Inna Alayhi Rajeoun...

Sad News...

Dear it's my fault for bringing this 1 year old thread into life again. I forgot to tag the moderators so they could change the title of the thread. My fault and apologies. I hope that some moderator changes the title. But since this thread contains several articles about flooding in KSA (different instances) I thought that this recent news could be posted in this thread as well.

 

[Marshmallow]

Makkah floods: Governor leads relief efforts

Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah​

MAKKAH: IRFAN MOHAMMED

Published — Sunday 11 May 2014

Last update 11 May 2014 2:25 am

Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah has ordered the formation of an emergency committee to study and follow up on the floods caused by torrential rains that battered Makkah on Thursday.
Prince Mishaal also held an emergency meeting with officials at the Makkah Development Authority and security entities to discuss relief measures.
He heard detailed reports about the damages caused by the floods, in addition to efforts to ease the impact, while reviewing procedures that should be followed in such circumstances.
He called on authorities to double efforts to protect lives and property and offer help to people who have been affected by the floods.
“There is no excuse for officials failing to carry out their duties,” he said. “Officials should make use of every available facility to engage in public service.”
Ahmad Abdullah Al-Zaid, director-general of the flood projects at the Makkah Municipality, said that the Makkah governor has directed authorities to increase their efforts in helping out in the aftermath of the floods.
“Around 50 percent of our annual average rainfall, which varies between 80mm and 100mm, fell within two hours,” he said.
Al-Zaid said that heavy rains fell on a major street where construction work was taking place.
The accumulation of water from neighboring valleys and ongoing work in nearby mountains contributed to the increase in water flow, he said.
“Construction work on the Transport Ministry’s circular road toward Madinah created a new flood path, which altered the course of the water flow,” he said.
“The governor has ordered the removal of construction waste and accumulated water, which has been completely removed.”
Al-Zaid said more than 60 percent of Makkah’s neighborhoods are covered by a comprehensive sewage network and that the municipality is working to complete the rest of the project under the direct supervision of Makkah’s governor.
Work has begun in inner neighborhoods to prevent water from gathering inside the main roads of these residential areas.
He stressed the existence of cement barriers in various locations to curb soil erosion on the city’s main roads.
“Damage has been limited to two locations and the recent rains haven’t affected any of the roads and neighborhoods inside Makkah,” he said.
“We have been working around the clock on restoration and repair works since Friday,” Osama Al-Zaytouni of the Makkah Municipality said on Saturday.
“We have deployed 3,920 personnel, backed with 140 pieces of machinery, to clear the roads to restore vehicular movement. We do, however, admit that the severity of the rains caused a delay in these relief operations.”
Civil defense authorities, meanwhile, have announced that they are still receiving claims for compensatory damage due to the rains.
“More than 60 vehicle owners have made claims,” according Col. Saeed Sarhan of the Civil Defense.
“Special patrolling teams have been deployed on valleys in the Taif region.”

Makkah floods: Governor leads relief efforts | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.

Please change the thread to "Flooding in KSA" .

@Marshmallow

This is very old news dear. I just don't want to start a new thread. Better to use one that already deals with flooding in KSA and change its thread title to what I proposed. Don't you think?

o sorry didnt know,i thought it happened recently.....yeah that's a better idea...ask any mod to do that for you....

@Aeronaut @Manticore @Oscar