HEAVY RAIN HITS KUWAIT AND JORDAN, AND BRINGS EXTRA HOLIDAY FOR IRAQIS
▶ Government gives workers day off amid concerns of flooding, while schools closed in neighbouring countries
Extreme weather including thunderstorms and hail has disrupted daily life in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.
Iraq was hit hardest by the storms, after torrential rain fell across the country on Wednesday and was accompanied by thunder, lightning, hail and strong winds.
The government declared Thursday a public holiday.
Floods affected traffic, with videos and images shared on social media showing cars floating away on the torrents.
In one video, several men were seen pushing a broken mini bus through deep water in Hillah, a provincial capital south of Baghdad.
Municipal workers in Baghdad and other provinces pumped water out of flooded urban and rural areas.
In the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, heavy construction equipment was used by rescue teams to demolish walls around homes to let water escape and allow families to flee to safety.
At least three people were electrocuted in the central province of Babil as they tried to switch off the main supply of power to their homes, AFP reported.
A woman was among the group, who were aged 16, 22 and 30, said Dr Ahmed Sabbah, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Hillah.
On Thursday, conditions returned to normal in most Iraqi cities. The weather service forecast light and moderate rain in the days ahead.
Severe weather is common in the country during March and April.
Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change, the UN Environment Programme said.
In the past three years, the country has reported record summer temperatures that exceeded 50°C in many areas, as well as insufficient and diminishing rainfall and frequent sand and dust storms.
Reduced water flow from its two main rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris, and extreme conditions have intensified droughts and water scarcity.
Desertification affects 39 per cent of the country and 54 per cent of its agricultural land has been degraded, mainly due to soil salinity caused by low river levels, rain scarcity and rising sea levels.
There was also heavy rain in Lebanon and Gaza.
In Jordan, some schools closed on Thursday owing to rain and poor visibility, state TV reported.
A soldier was missing after a flash flood on Monday, an army spokesman said. He was in a patrol vehicle that was swept away by the flood in the Wadi Araba region, on the border with Israel.
“Research and rescue operations are continuing,” the spokesman said. The vehicle has been found.
Flash floods are common in Wadi Araba. Desert covers a large area of the kingdom and rainfall across the country last season was among the lowest on record. Rains have increased this year and rainfall has been above average during March and April.
Schools were closed in the southern governorates of Tafileh, Karak and Aqaba, where Wadi Araba is located, as well as in Al Salt, west of Amman.
Hussein Al Tarawneh, head of the Karak education department, said schools were suspended “to preserve the health of the students and staff”.
On Thursday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Education also closed schools over concerns about the weather. Pupils and teachers were allowed to leave early on Wednesday.
The decision was based on weather warnings issued by the Meteorological Department of the General Administration of Civil Aviation.
“The ministry emphasises the importance of ensuring the safety of students, teachers and employees, and urges everyone to follow the ministry’s instructions and official updates regarding the study schedule on the ministry’s website,” said ministry spokesman Ahmed Al Wahida.
Meteorologist Issa Ramadan told Kuwait’s Al Rai newspaper that heavy rain and thunderstorms were expected in the coming days.
“This year’s weather is characterised by rain that exceeds the usual annual rates in terms of frequency, continuity and abundance, which made the spring of this year one of the most beautiful, wonderful and splendid for many years,” Mr Ramadan said.
Moderate to heavy rain was also reported in parts of Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh.
In Abha, in the south-west, King Khalid University put remote learning measures in place on Thursday “to ensure everyone’s safety”.