Video keadaan banjir yang teruk di Jeddah, Mekah pada bulan November lalu. Kederasan airnya terlalu kuat sehinggakan dapat menghanyutkan kereta, van dan kenderaan-kenderaan besar lain. Sedangkan di Malaysia banjir hanya menenggelamkan kereta tetapi tidak menghanyutkannya sebegitu rupa. Fikir-fikirkan , bagaimana keadaan di padang pasir boleh terjadi sedemikian rupa.
Laporan berita mengatakan bahawa satu juta Riyals (267.000 dolar) dalam pampasan dibayar kepada setiap keluarga mangsa, banyak di antaranya tenggelam atau hancur di dalam kenderaan oleh saksi apa yang disebut "tsunami."
Putera Khalid bin Faisal, gabenor wilayah Mekah yang meliputi Jeddah, akan mengetuai penyiasatan, menilai peribadi dan kerugian harta benda dan menetapkan apakah ada pihak yang bertanggungjawab.
"Kita menyedari bahawa kita tidak boleh mengabaikan fakta bahawa ada kesalahan atau kelalaian dari puak tertentu" yang harus "didedahkan dan ditangani dengan tegas," pihak raja berkata.
Perkiraan rasmi meletakkan kerosakan pada ratusan juta dolar. Seorang peguam hak asasi manusia, Walid Abu al-Kheir, berkata beliau sedang menyiapkan saman terhadap kerajaan bandar atas nama para mangsa.
"Mereka tidak membuat pekerjaan drainase. Mereka telah memberitahu kami selama tiga tahun atau lebih yang telah selesai," katanya kepada AFP. "Bahkan orang-orang daripada kerajaan bandar mengatakan ada kesalahan."
Sememangnya kebelakangan ini kejadian banjir asyik melanda Mekah , sedangkan dulunya kawasan padang pasir ini jauh sekali untuk disinggahi banjir. Ini semua ada hikmahnya dan menjadi pelajaran bagi mereka-mereka yang mahu berfikir. Dengan kedatangan banjir ini juga merupakan penyebab kepada tanah arab yang tandus ini insyaAllah akan kembali menjadi subur, ditumbuhi padang rumput dan muncul sungai-sungai.
“Tidak akan datang hari Kiamat sehingga negeri Arab kembali menjadi padang rumput dan sungai-sungai.” Hadith Riwayat Ahmad
”Jikalau sekiranya penduduk negeri-negeri beriman dan bertakwa, pastilah Kami akan melimpahkan kepada mereka berkah dari langit dan bumi, tetapi mereka mendustakan (ayat-ayat Kami) itu, maka Kami siksa mereka disebabkan perbuatannya.” Surah Al-A’raaf : Ayat 96
”Maka apakah penduduk negeri-negeri itu merasa aman dari kedatangan siksaan Kami kepada mereka di malam hari di waktu mereka sedang tidur? Atau apakah penduduk negeri-negeri itu merasa aman dari kedatangan siksaan Kami kepada mereka di waktu matahari sepenggalahan naik ketika mereka sedang bermain? Maka apakah mereka merasa aman dari azab Allah (yang tidak terduga-duga)? Tiadalah yang merasa aman dari azab Allah kecuali orang-orang yang rugi. Dan apakah belum jelas bagi orang-orang yang mempusakai suatu negeri sesudah (lenyap) penduduknya, bahawa kalau Kami menghendaki tentu Kami azab mereka kerana dosa-dosanya; dan Kami kunci mati hati mereka sehingga mereka tidak dapat mendengar (pelajaran lagi)?” Surah Al-A’raaf : Ayat 97-100
The first meeting of the committee investigating the circumstances that led to the deadly flashfloods in Jeddah on Nov. 25 was held under the chairmanship of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal at his office in Jeddah on Saturday.
BalasPadam“The compensation and sheltering offered to the victims under the orders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah helped a lot to allay the sufferings of the victims,” Prince Khaled said after the meeting.
The committee, which set up a number of subcommittees, decided to take steps to complete its task and submit a final report to the king soon, the prince added. He said a second meeting of the committee will be held today.
Meanwhile, Mansour Al-Mazrouei, head of the Department of Meteorology and an expert on climate change at King Abdulaziz University, warned that unexpected climatic changes could be experienced in the Kingdom in future.
“The urban planners in Jeddah should consider unexpected turns in the weather when they make plans,” Al-Mazrouei told Arab News. He said the 90mm rainfall in six hours on Nov. 25 in Jeddah was a record. “The volume of rain that fell in a very short time triggered flashfloods that ravaged the southern and eastern districts of Jeddah.” He said Jeddah received considerable rainfall in 1996, but it was spread over a period of six days, not exceeding 40mm on any one day.
Al-Mazrouei added that only five times in the recorded history of Jeddah had rains exceeded 60mm a day, but they did not cause heavy damage.
They were all recorded in November when most rains fall in the western region in the Kingdom. “The huge volume of rain that fell in Jeddah after a long spell of rainless years could be indicative of the phenomenon of climate change coming to the Kingdom,” he said.
The first meeting of the committee investigating the circumstances that led to the deadly flashfloods in Jeddah on Nov. 25 was held under the chairmanship of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal at his office in Jeddah on Saturday.
BalasPadam“The compensation and sheltering offered to the victims under the orders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah helped a lot to allay the sufferings of the victims,” Prince Khaled said after the meeting.
The committee, which set up a number of subcommittees, decided to take steps to complete its task and submit a final report to the king soon, the prince added. He said a second meeting of the committee will be held today.
Meanwhile, Mansour Al-Mazrouei, head of the Department of Meteorology and an expert on climate change at King Abdulaziz University, warned that unexpected climatic changes could be experienced in the Kingdom in future.
“The urban planners in Jeddah should consider unexpected turns in the weather when they make plans,” Al-Mazrouei told Arab News. He said the 90mm rainfall in six hours on Nov. 25 in Jeddah was a record. “The volume of rain that fell in a very short time triggered flashfloods that ravaged the southern and eastern districts of Jeddah.” He said Jeddah received considerable rainfall in 1996, but it was spread over a period of six days, not exceeding 40mm on any one day.
Al-Mazrouei added that only five times in the recorded history of Jeddah had rains exceeded 60mm a day, but they did not cause heavy damage.
They were all recorded in November when most rains fall in the western region in the Kingdom. “The huge volume of rain that fell in Jeddah after a long spell of rainless years could be indicative of the phenomenon of climate change coming to the Kingdom,” he said.