RIYADH: During the fall and winter, parts of Saudi Arabia face bouts of heavy rainfall that can overwhelm drainage networks, particularly in older neighborhoods or areas with inadequate infrastructure.
Over the years, repeated flooding has caused fatalities and major damage to homes, businesses and public property. Jeddah is one of the clearest examples.
As reported by Arab News in 2015, past urban planning decisions allowed construction in natural flood valleys, creating structural vulnerabilities that surfaced whenever severe rain hit.
At the time, experts noted that infrastructure systems — from stormwater drainage and sanitation to roads, lighting, electrical grids and water services — had not been developed in tandem, leaving cities exposed. Ignoring the natural valley system further amplified the risk and led specialists to call for comprehensive flood strategies to correct earlier planning mistakes, according to Fares Al-Enzi, an academic affiliated with Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz University.
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