Jeddah Floods Disaster - Essay Example

Both the floods were associated with heavy rainfall which resulted in a rise in the level of water and therefore resulted in floods. The first flood struck Jeddah on 5 November 2009 and the second flood struck my hometown in the month of January in 2011. Many people were stranded and life came to a standstill in the city in the Jeddah which is known to be one of the most important cities of the country of Saudi Arabia. The floods of 2009 and 2011 have both been associated with heavy rainfall in the city of Jeddah.

The flood that struck the city in the year 2009 brought with it more destruction and was associated with rainfall recorded to be of 90 mm volume. It was analyzed that the losses of lives was greater than one hundred in the year 2009. Bridges fell down owing to the heavy downpour and the major roads in the city were blocked and there was accumulation of water. This resulted in the deaths of many people owing to their sinking under the accumulated water on the roads as well as due to the falling of bridges over them.

The chaos also resulted in accidents which led to more fatalities. The infrastructure of the city was greatly affected and many people were stranded and did not have proper shelter left. . The increased rainfalls were therefore associated with more intense floods. Despite of increased severity, the destruction was lesser and the numbers of deaths associated with the disaster were also not as high as those of the floods of 2009. This can be associated with the preparedness of the government due to lessons learnt from the previous flood and the methods devised by the authorities to overcome such situations.

Rescue teams immediately became alert and started operating to save the people who were stranded and lift them from the high water areas. Eleven deaths were reported due to this flood and many people were wounded (Humaidan et al 2011). The floods greatly affected the normal living and day to day life of the people residing in the city. The roads and many houses in the city were submerged in water. Many people were missing in the floods resulting in the creation of a chaotic situation. Many people also lost their lives due to these floods.

The infrastructure of the city was totally disturbed. There were power outages and many areas were reported to be suffering from shutdown of power owing to the disruptions in the power lines. This was also associated with the breakdown in the communication networks and many mobile towers were disturbed which resulted in lack of networks available for communication. The situation in the city was not minor and it took many weeks for everything to return to normal. Offices were closed and the schools were also closed down for a few days.

This meant that the official work as well as the education in the city was disrupted owing to these floods (BBC News- Middle East 2009; Humaidan et al 2011).