Flash floods submerge streets in south but no injuries reported — CDD

AMMAN — A heavy downpour over the weekend flooded streets and neighbourhoods in the south, but no injuries were reported, according to the Civil Defence Department (CDD).

Unstable weather that peaked on Thursday night brought rain to several areas around the Kingdom. Rainfall was heavier in the southern region, particularly in Tafileh, Maan and Aqaba governorates, the CDD said in a statement.

People shared photos and videos on social media of raging floods in Ras Al Naqab and Wadi Al Yutum in Aqaba, 330km south of Amman, and of the port city’s waterlogged streets and submerged cars and buses on Thursday night and Friday morning.

Scores of people were evacuated after being caught in flash floods in the southern region, the CDD said. 

“A total of 66 people were evacuated to highlands after flash floods inundated low-lying areas,” the CDD said, indicating that they were all in good health.

The department also pumped out water from 31 houses that were submerged by rainwater, according to the statement.

In Zarqa Governorate, 22km northeast of Amman, brisk winds caused four electricity poles to fall inside the Amman-Zarqa tunnel, the Jordan New Agency, Petra, reported, but no injuries occurred.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) said on Saturday that only Al Hweidi Dam in Maan Governorate, 220km south of Amman, received additional storage following the rain, noting that rainfall in the north and the central region was not sufficient to form runoff reaching the dams. 

“A total of 500,000 cubic metres of rainwater entered Al Hweidi Dam, which was at a capacity of 1.5 million cubic metres to keep flash floods from submerging Maan,” JVA Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour told The Jordan Times.

The Jordan Meteorological Department said that the unstable weather will have a strong impact on the southern and eastern parts of the country, indicating that it was caused by a weak expansion of the Red Sea trough.

The rain was good news for olive farmers, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

“The rain washes all of the dirt off olives, which means a higher yield of olive oil and a much better quality,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Nimer Haddadin, told The Jordan Times.

He indicated that the olive harvest continues across the country until December.

“In addition, specific shrubs and plants blossom in October, relying on this month’s rain,” Haddadin said, noting that the weekend’s downpour will boost natural pastures.