Apr

Flash Flood – Middle-East – Saudi Arabia

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EDIS Number: FF-20100418-25747-SAU
Date / time: 18/04/2010 02:45:11 [UTC]
Event: Flash Flood
Area: Middle-East
Country: Saudi Arabia
State/County: Province of Asir
City: Bisha
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

The Civil Defense rescued around 250 people following flash flood in Bisha, Asir, on Saturday. The air wing of the Civil Defense, which received 2,100 distress calls from stranded people, saved 79 of those who called. The Civil Defense has also provided apartments to 146 people affected by the floods. The village of Al-Baten was totally isolated after a flash flood swept away the only road connecting the village to the rest of the Bisha governorate. The village’s power supply was also cut off. The Civil Defense was working hard to repair the road on Saturday and the Saudi Electric Company was working around the clock to restore power. People affected by floods have called for a radical solution to the problem. “My only source of income is from a small farm overlooking a wadi. Annual floods never caused serious harm to the farm until two years ago when another farmer in the village put up a mud wall which changed the direction of the floodwaters and destroyed my entire farm just before harvest time,” said Muhammad Al-Jubairy, 60, a farmer from Qunfudah. He added that when he complained to village heads they suggested a plan to dig small canals to solve the other farmer’s water problems, but the plan was not implemented. Umm Abdul Aziz said her husband died leaving behind a farm in a coastal village where flash flood destroyed her farm causing considerable financial loss last year.

“Last year I spent more than SR10,000 to buy seeds and pay wages to laborers. The crops appeared to be excellent but a flood following heavy rains wiped out the entire farm. The same thing happened this year also. “What I understand is that the flood water changed its course toward my farm after some people built houses and mud walls in front of its usual path in the wadi,” she said. Mashhour Al-Qarni in Al-Leeth can hardly believe he is still alive after his car was carried away in floodwaters. He was, however, able to get out of his car and hold on to a tree for several hours before being rescued by the Civil Defense. He said he was going to a wedding party on that terrible night. Five Asian laborers, meanwhile, were not as lucky. They were traveling in the same wadi when their vehicle was hit by floodwaters. All of them drowned and their bodies were discovered several kilometers away. Farmer Hassan Balkhair believes that the best way to secure villages against flash flood is to build strong dams at locations outside villages. Such dams have an additional advantage of storing water for dry seasons, he added. Muhammad Shamakhi and Ibrahim Al-Faqieh of Qunfudah also shared Balkhair’s view about the use of dams. They added that unauthorized mud walls constructed by some farmers change the old direction of floodwaters, harming others.