Kuwait grinds to a halt amid torrential rainfall
MP blasts former minister * Dozens of people rescued * Schools closed today
By B Izzak & Agencies
KUWAIT: Torrential rains hit Kuwait yesterday, bringing life to almost a standstill, flooding residential areas and forcing the closure of several key highways. There was no reported loss of life, but authorities said they rescued as many as 106 people. Officials said that the amount of rainfall exceeded 60 mm in some areas, which is more than half of Kuwait’s average annual rainfall of 100 mm.
A number of lawmakers strongly lashed out at the government, blaming former senior officials for the damage caused by the rains, which has happened several times already. MP Mubarak Al-Ajmi blamed former public works minister Rana Al-Fares and held her responsible “for what is happening on Kuwait’s roads”, adding that she had been given the opportunity to make the necessary repairs during the closures because of the coronavirus pandemic, “but she failed”.
MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari called on the government to declare today a public holiday because movement on roads will be extremely difficult. He said the damage from rains has happened again because of accumulated corruption. He held the government responsible.
Most residential areas were turned into lakes, while thousands of vehicles were stranded on submerged roads, as the interior ministry urged the public not to venture out except for emergencies. Teams from the army, the national guard, municipality and fire department, in addition to the public works ministry and others were busy throughout the day trying to drain water that filled many underpasses.
The education ministry postponed exams scheduled for today and the higher education ministry closed schools and universities today. The Meteorological Department said heavy rains, caused by a deep depression over Africa, were expected to continue until after midnight yesterday and expected stability to return gradually today.
Authorities in several Gulf countries renewed weather warnings yesterday as several days of heavy rains battered the usually arid region. Gulf countries usually experience mild winters, with the exception of rare and brief episodes of flooding rains between November and January.
Torrential rainfall has hit the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with official WAM news agency saying the bad weather was expected to last until Thursday. The rain has been exacerbated by cloud seeding, which authorities use to increase usually low and rare rainfall, the national centre of meteorology told AFP. In the UAE emirate of Sharjah, pedestrians and vehicles were caught up in brown-colored water. Authorities have not reported any casualties.
Heavy rain has been falling in the vast desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, impacting pilgrims in the holy city of Makkah. The Saudi civil defense warned that moderate to heavy rain was expected to continue in several regions. Oman on Saturday had announced “stormy rains of varying intensity” in several regions of the country, and state broadcaster Oman TV showed images of wet roads and rising waters. Authorities in Qatar urged residents to remain vigilant and forecast “stormy rains” and strong winds in several parts of the country from Sunday.
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