RIYADH — At least three more people, all of them Saudis, have died in rain-related accidents in Makkah and Riyadh, the Civil Defense announced on Tuesday. With this the death toll from heavy rains and torrential floods in various parts of the Kingdom has reached 10, in addition to many other people who were injured. The media center of the Civil Defense in Riyadh said 325 people were rescued and 119 families were evacuated from their homes to safe places elsewhere. The center said it had received 978 calls for help and information about rains consisting of 510 in Riyadh, 24 in Makkah, four in Baha, one in Jazan, 14 in Tabuk, 386 in the Eastern Province and 38 in Asir. It said 325 people who were rescued were in Riyadh, Makkah,, Jazan, Tabuk, Asir and the Eastern Province. According to the center, as many as 320 vehicles besieged by the rain and floods were safely pulled out. The Civil Defense asked citizens and expatriates all over the Kingdom to take to all necessary precautions when they go out when it rains. According to local newspapers on Wednesday, the rain and floods have washed away a number of roads, destroyed houses and damaged agriculture in various regions. A number of experts have criticized the apathy of some government departments to ward off imminent threats posed by rainwater. Ihasan Abu Hilaiqa, an economist, said the largest quantity of rain in the Kingdom was not more than 59 mm, which is 0.045 percent of the rains that usually fall in Bangladesh. "Though the amount of rain is too little, our concerned departments and the drainage projects could not contain its effects properly," he said. Abu Hilaiqa asked the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) to investigate the failure of the mega drainage projects, which cost millions of riyals, to drain rainwater.
