Warning issued after flash floods rock Mecca in Saudi Arabia
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Alaina
- . December 24, 2022
- . Update: December 24, 2022 5:55 pm
Only one month after Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, had record-breaking rainfall, flash floods engulfed Mecca, the Muslim holy city and site of pilgrimage.
After a night of heavy rain, Mecca saw flash floods on Friday morning that destroyed homes and automobiles.
Social media was used by the public to post videos of cars being carried away by strong water currents. The sewer system appeared to be at capacity while the streets were filled to the brim with rainwater.
Authorities at the King Abdulaziz Airport have asked travellers to confirm the situation because of the amount of rain that has been falling.
One of the most popular Muslim pilgrimage destinations worldwide is Mecca. As pilgrims got wet in the courtyard of the mosque, the Grand Mosque of Mecca was also flooded.
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Late on Friday night, the National Center of Meteorology issued a minor warning, informing people to expect additional torrential rain in the days ahead in several sections of the Makkah, Madinah, and Tabuk regions.
Notably, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on November 24 last month, Jeddah saw 179 millimetres of rain. The number surpassed the record set in 2009, when 90 mm of rain fell and killed more than 120 people.
The city’s schools were closed following the downpour. Final exams at King Abdulaziz University and the University of Jeddah, the two most renowned universities in Saudi Arabia, were postponed for the first semester.
Saudi social media users shared videos of a rare snowfall in the Tabuk region earlier this year in January, following a sharp drop in temperature.
