Although it generally occurs once or twice a year, rain in the Kingdom outside of the Asir province always brings wonder and awe. Last Wednesday's torrential downpour that dropped three inches on the city of Jeddah, flooding streets and destroying homes and automobiles was more than just a natural curiosity, however. It became a natural disaster, the extent of which is still unknown as the search for victims continues. Although three inches is, indeed, a substantial amount of rainfall, especially for a city that rarely sees more than a just a trace amount of rain at one time. This does not excuse the shortcomings in urban infrastructure, however, that should have been sufficient to handle the storm. At this point, of course, there is no one to blame for the heavily flawed drainage and sewage system that failed to handle the amount of rainfall deposited on the city. Civil Defense workers did their duties in the face of the devastating downpour and King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, mandated unlimited funds be provided to house those families made homeless by the rainfall until conditions return to normal and they can return to their homes. But the floods are a clear signal that Jeddah and every other Saudi city not only must be prepared for the unexpected but must also take a hard look at what infrastructure is in place and seriously assess its worthiness. There has been much discussion in Jeddah about the adequacy of its sewage and drainage system and residents are well aware that even minimal rain could cause pools of water that could disrupt traffic for considerable amounts of time. It should have been clear to city officials that any rainfall out of the ordinary could have serious consequences. There has been a considerable amount of urban planning in Jeddah over the past few years but it clearly must go beyond traffic control and parks planning. Garbage collection and a new sewage system in part of the city was a good first step. But now that the worst has occurred, it is time for the experts to use their educations and expertise to make sure that neither Jeddah nor any other Saudi city be subjected to loss of life based on controllable development. __
