Death toll still AT 4 Weather to remain ‘stable' JEDDAH: The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) said it was unable to provide immediate updates on its website as of Thursday afternoon due to a “failure in the system and communications network”. It said, however, that weather over the next few days would be “stable”. “A breakdown has occurred in the systems and the updating communications network for this website due to the accumulation of rainwater at the systems' sites and the information network,” a statement on the PME website read. “The PME would like to reassure the public that weather conditions will be stable for the next three days.” The statement came after heavy rains of over 110 millimeters hit the city Wednesday leading to four deaths and massive air and ground rescue efforts. Thousands were stranded in their vehicles in central streets and the Civil Defense sent out warnings urging the public to remain at home. Jeddah Civil Defense chief Sa'ad Al-Tuwaijiri said Thursday that a total of four lives had been lost during the floods, the same figure that was released by the authorities late Wednesday. “Rescue operations are still continuing,” he said. “866 have been rescued by ground units, and 465 others rescued by our 19 aircraft.” Stern warning As soon as news of the floods hit Wednesday, King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, issued an immediate order for reinforcements to help in rescue work. He also issued a stern warning that any failures on the part of the authorities would not go unpunished. “Every authority concerned must work day and night to address the issue and whoever is found lacking in this very serious matter will be shown no leniency,” the order said. “The Jeddah region faces serious flooding in many areas… urgent reinforcements must be provided to mitigate against the effects, particularly given that further rains are expected in the coming days.” The order, issued from Morocco where King Abdullah is continuing his period of recovery following surgery in the United States, also instructed the Ministry of Finance to immediately release the necessary funds to provide all the required reinforcements and facilities. Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, said following the order that an urgent ministerial meeting was to be convened Sunday at the behest of Crown Prince Sultan, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, to formulate an immediate response to the situation. “I have been tasked by Crown Prince Sultan to hold an urgent meeting of relevant ministers to prepare right away a study from all aspects of everything related to flood drainage, to study previous contracts and funds allocated to each authority to reveal what should and can be done immediately, to prevent a repetition of the situation in the future,” Prince Naif said in a statement released by Saudi Press Agency. The statement said that the meeting would discuss the immediate situation in the Makkah province and would study the future situation in other regions across the country to find rapid and effective solutions. “A report will be submitted to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince on measures to adopt and ways to tackle the situation at its root,” it said. ‘To the letter' Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, promised that the orders from King Abdullah to bring to task anyone responsible for failures would be “carried out to the letter”.Speaking to Al-Arabiya television network, Prince Khaled said that all the relevant authorities, led by Jeddah Governor Prince Mish'al Bin Majed, were working “as one” to conduct rescue and aid operations. “Special emergency forces have been drafted in to help with operations and get traffic moving, and all sectors are performing their tasks to the utmost,” he said. “I would like to thank everyone for their efforts.” Prince Mish'al, meanwhile, asked the public to “have confidence” in government authorities who were “working to capacity to provide assurance to the people of Jeddah”, and also offered an apology. “May the public forgive us, as the amount of rainfall has been more than we can cope with,” the Prince said. “According to King Abdulaziz University 112 mm squared fell, a record figure for Jeddah.” Prince Mish'al was speaking after an emergency meeting with the regional Civil Defense Committee, and admitted to failures in some services. “We should perform our duties to the full, and yes, there have been some failures on our part and we apologize, and we're not happy about it,” he said. “We would ask the public to help us, as there are some services which we cannot provide at the moment due to the congestion.” Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras, meanwhile, said that his office would perform its part as soon as the situation improves and traffic starts flowing again. “The mayoralty's equipment can't go into action because of the rain waters,” he said. “We have been coordinating with other government bodies.” Dam breaks The mayoralty is the target of blame from residents in the district of Umm Al-Khair after a 50-meter stretch of the dam broke under the pressure of rainwater. “We've been warning of this for ages but the mayoralty has ignored all our calls,” said one resident. “If they'd listened to us it wouldn't have happened.” Rescue teams with helicopters, boats and dinghies were sent in to rescue 65 women, children and elderly persons from the resultant flooding. “The rescue operation continued for several hours to verify that no residents were left in the area of Umm Al-Khair and that no one else was stranded,” said a Civil Defense official. “The pressure on the dam caused a 50-meter breach, and four-meter-high waters reached the districts of Al-Naseem, Bani Malik and Al-Sharafiya.” Schools closed The Ministry of Education said Thursday that all schools in the Jeddah region are to remain closed next week and will reopen with the beginning of the second semester. Muhammad Al-Dukhaini, spokesman for the ministry, said that intermediate and secondary schools which have not completed examinations would have new dates set when schools reopen.
