Last month's floods created scattered electrical power outages in different parts of the city with the collapse of 2,140 transformers, leaving at least 166,000 electricity subscribers in the dark, although most were reconnected in less than 24 hours, an official said. Even in hard-to-reach areas surrounded by floodwaters, the electric power was quickly reconnected. The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) sought the help of Civil Defense helicopters to reconnect power in some hard-to-reach flood-hit areas, an official said. SEC technicians were flown to water-surrounded areas to repair damaged transformers, poles, and towers, said Abdulsallam Al-Yumni, Vice President of SEC for General Affairs. Power to over 80 homes completely destroyed by the floods could not be restored. The company worked around the clock to ensure a quick return of electric power to affected areas amid difficult weather, he said. The power outage in many areas did not last for more than 24 hours as planned for in emergency cases, he said. The Umm Al-Salam power plant which was destroyed by the floods was up and running in less than 24 hours, he added. Engineers were flown in to fix the 20-transformer power plant as it is difficult to reach by land. Six transformers were also fixed in less than 24 hours after being damaged by the floods in the Jeddah Industrial Zone. “Another 11 transformers in Madaen Al-Fahd were also fixed one day after last month's rains,” he added. But floods swept away most of the power infrastructure in the heavily-flooded areas in east Jeddah, Al-Yumni said. SEC established a fully-equipped emergency center in Quwaizah, in addition to the already existing 15 centers across the city, restoring power as quickly and safely as possible. Major underground power cables in east Jeddah were fixed.
