Saudi: Heavy Hail Causes Traffic Disruption
The Taif Municipality field teams at the Agency for Projects have removed hail stones in record time, as the northern part of the region witnessed heavy hail showers that disrupted road traffic. They removed hail stones, which fell heavily in the neighbourhoods and on the Riyadh-Taif Road on Wednesday afternoon and partially impeded movement there.
The clearing was effected with the support of specialized machinery and labour. The municipality stated that the teams had removed the hail stones in a record time and organized and restored traffic to normal on the road. They are working in accordance with a plan to reduce the consequences of the rain’s effects by following up on the meteorology and forecasts of the rainy condition.
They have started by distributing field teams and mechanisms in areas expecting rains, in order to deal early with the weather condition and address the observations as soon as they occur, in a way that ensures the safety and comfort of the people.
There are more than 90 field teams dealing with rainy weather in Taif and its suburbs. Their tasks are based on several things, such as removing dust from streets, from the main and secondary roads, as well as from the neighbourhood streets.
The teams are also tasked with carrying out the continuous monitoring of rain and torrential drainage channels, boxes and open drainage manholes such as (drain boxes, also called catch basins). They are also removing waste washed away by the water, with the aim of enhancing the flow of water and preventing the occurrence of gathering points.
The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) had announced earlier that several parts of Saudi Arabia’s regions would be witnessing thunderstorms, accompanied by hail and active winds that may lead to torrential rains. Hussain Al-Qahtani, spokesman of NCM confirmed that the weather in the Kingdom will remain cloudy until the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
