Saudi storm shuts schools, delays flights, cuts main road to Makkah
Heavy rains in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah on Thursday delayed flights, forced school suspensions and closed the road to the holy city of Makkah, state media reported.
Jeddah, a city of roughly four million people positioned on the Red Sea, is often referred to as the "gateway to Makkah", where millions perform the Haj and umrah pilgrimages each year.
Images posted to social media on Thursday showed standing water snarling traffic in Jeddah and partially submerging some vehicles.
The city's King Abdulaziz International Airport said that "due to weather conditions, the departure of some flights has been delayed" and urged passengers to contact carriers for up-to-date schedules.
The official Saudi Press Agency reported before dawn that schools
in the city would be suspended as rains were forecast to continue throughout the day.
Schools were also closed in the nearby towns of Rabigh and Khulais "to preserve the safety of male and female students", SPA said.
The decision was made to ensure students' safety and was based on reports from the National Centere of Meteorology, Arab News reported.
King Abdulaziz University and
University of Jeddah have also taken the same measures.
Schools' first semester's final exams for Thursday have been postponed, and will be held on the first Thursday of the second semester.
King Abdulaziz University said that alternative dates for postponed exams will be announced later.
The kingdom is in the middle of final exams, yet schools had already been closed nationwide on
Wednesday after the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, declared a holiday following Saudi Arabia's shock defeat of Argentina in the World Cup.
Winter rainstorms and flooding occur almost every year in Jeddah, where residents have long decried poor infrastructure.
Floods killed 123 people in the city in 2009 and 10 more two years later. — agencies