Saudi Arabia is facing a severe urban flooding situation due to heavy rain. Floods have badly affected Makkah, including Masjid-al-Haram, flooding roads and disrupting daily life for residents and pilgrims.
Foreign media reports that heavy rain has flooded many cities in Saudi Arabia, blocking roads.
Reports state that heavy rain has caused water to accumulate around the sides of the Kaaba.
The heavy rains started on October 27 and completely clogged the city’s drainage system. Videos of heavy rain and urban flooding are circulating on social media.
On October 27, Hussain Al-Qahtani, a spokesperson from the National Center of Meteorology warned that areas like Hail, Qasim, Asir, and Jizan would see the heaviest rain, with Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, and Sharqiya also expecting heavy downpours, especially over the weekend.
Hussain posted on Twitter, that the storm brought gale-force winds exceeding 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour.
Previously, pilgrims witnessed a rare scene in Masjid-al-Haram when the lightning strike hit the famous Fairmont Makkah Clock Royal Tower hotel, lighting up the night sky on Tuesday.
The situation seemed similar to the 2015 storm incident that caused a crane to collapse at Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram, resulting in over 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
So far, no injuries or casualties have been reported from Tuesday’s storm by Saudi authorities.
Meteorological department warned that more storms could bring rain, wind, and thunder to the Mecca area and other parts of western Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
