Kuwait braces for heavy rain and floods

Government shuts down schools, departments to deal with likely flooding

Government shuts departments, universities, schools as precautionary step |

Kuwait’s ministries, departments, universities and public and private schools were asked to remain shut yesterday as a precautionary measure against expected heavy rain.

The country is still grappling with the political, social and economic fallout of the recent downpour that has caused the death of a person and heavy damage to public and private properties and led to the resignation of a minister, the dismissal of senior officials and a motion by a lawmaker to grill the prime minister over alleged state mismanagement of the disaster.

The decision to shut down all public facilities amid forecasts of heavy rain and high winds aims to ensure people’s safety and to allow the authorities to deal with emergencies more easily since there will be no traffic congestion and slowdown.

A list of several shelters across the six governorates of the country in case of flooding was published to provide people with better protection.

Another issue facing the government is how to deal with fake news and rumours circulated on social media.