JEDDAH — Local authorities in Jeddah have warned from heavy rain expected on the coastal city on Friday and asked residents to stay home. The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) on Thursday has raised the rain alerting level in Jeddah to a warning. The center expected that Jeddah would witness thunderstorms and heavy rains accompanied with activity in surface winds and hail, in addition to high waves, torrential rain, and also there will be a lack of visibility. The warning will remain active until Friday's afternoon at 12PM. The crisis and disaster management center at Makkah emirate has stressed the importance of not leaving homes during NCM's warning unless for necessity. "People must take care and not approach the sites where rainwater accumulates to ensure their safety," the center warned. The CEO of NCM Dr. Ayman Ghulam has confirmed that the center has raised its readiness to deal with the rainy condition that continues until Friday throughout most of the Saudi regions. He added that NCM is fully prepared to deal with any condition may arise and it is following up all the weather developments. It is noteworthy that the Jeddah Municipality has readied its equipment and manpower to deal with any emergencies from the rain in the city over the weekend. According to the municipality plan, 3,822 employees and 1,490 pieces of equipment are in place to deal with the rainy situation that the governorate is witnessing in different locations. The work teams were distributed across 16 sub-municipalities and 13 support centers.
