Rains and floods in Saudi Arabia. Crying of the sky or of the people?

T Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has recently hit world news and has become well known for man-made disasters, such as terrorist attacks, and the high rate of motor vehicle accidents. However, natural disasters, such as floods have had much less attention, even though it leads to much more damage than the rest of other disasters or accidents combined. This article will present the 2 cases of Jeddah 2009 floods and Riyadh 2010 floods as the most recent disasters in the region. These 2 events were chosen since they are very recent, and have awakened policy makers to shift their emergency preparedness efforts to a more active approach. This article will also review the main lessons learnt and recommendations for future disaster preparedness strategies. There is a scarcity of literature published on natural disasters in KSA, and perhaps the best record on international disasters comes from the International Disaster Database (IDD). The IDD is an established World Health Organization (WHO) project that originates from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, School of Public Health of the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. It compiles and standardizes the data collection of all international natural and man-made disasters. Table 1 summarizes the main 10 natural disasters that occurred in KSA in the last century.1 It is obvious that floods have been the most frequently encountered natural disaster in the country. The exceptions to floods, being a main natural disaster, were only 3 incidents of bacterial/viral meningitis occurring during Hajj time (that is, annual pilgrimage to Makkah). Of all natural disasters enlisted, the 2009 Jeddah floods have topped the list in terms of severity, fatality, and cost. Some disasters have been omitted from Table 1 due to the strict inclusion criteria and definitions used for IDD (refer to Table 2).1 At approximately 6:30 in the morning of Wednesday (25th November 2009), rain started falling heavily in Jeddah, and continued for almost 12 hours. The amount of water in this relatively brief downpour (approximately 90 mm3) doubled the average annual rain fall in Jeddah.2 With sound infrastructure and proper drainage system lacking, this rain turned into a worst disaster that Jeddah has experienced in 27 years or so.3 The downpour resulted in the formation of water tides coming from the hills on the east of the city, heading west towards the Red Sea, and cutting their way through the city. Jeddah only rarely has rainfall, and hence preparedness to any risk arising from such a natural phenomenon is, at best, minimal. The passage of the floods through a city with an almost non-existent drainage system was devastating. Several residential houses collapsed, forcing many inhabitants to the upper floors and roofs. Laboratories and databases at the King Abdulaziz University and King Abdulaziz Hospital were destroyed, wasting valuable resources, specimen, and medical records.2,3 Major roads of the city were blocked by meters-high water waves, or by cars that have been washed out. As a result, thousands of pilgrims were rendered waiting in buses for hours before arriving in Makkah for the first day of Hajj. Furthermore, the King Abdullah Bridge on the South of Jeddah has partially collapsed, adding to the chaos and fright to the situation.2,3 Power and telecommunication services were not spared either. As early as 11 A.M, floods have already resulted in a temporary power outage on the whole Western region of Saudi Arabia (such as, Makkah, Madinah, and Jeddah). Many people were not even able to call for help as communication with emergency services (for example, Civil Defense Forces, police,