Torrential floods hit Jeddah in 2009. Will they happen again?

Arab Weather - Sinan Khalaf - During the Wasm season of 2009, specifically on November 25, Jeddah witnessed one of the most intense rainstorms in modern times. Heavy rains exceeded 90 mm in just two hours, transforming the city's roads into torrential rivers that swept away cars and destroyed buildings, causing widespread destruction and significant human and material losses.

The southern areas of Jeddah were the most affected, as electricity and water networks were completely cut off, and main roads were transformed into dangerous paths, coinciding with the departure of students and employees from their workplaces, causing chaos throughout the city, in a disaster known as the 2009 Jeddah Floods Disaster.

Causes of the 2009 Jeddah flood disaster

Meteorologists explained that the intensity of the rain that day was the result of a combination of several rare weather factors, including:

• An extension of a low-pressure system coming from the Red Sea, laden with very high humidity.
• Rising temperatures in the lower layers of the atmosphere, which helped in the formation of huge thunderclouds.
• The weakness of Jeddah's rainwater drainage networks, which are not equipped to handle such large amounts of rainfall.
• The effect of local terrain and urban obstacles in accelerating water flow and accumulating it in unexpected places, multiplying the impact of floods.
• As a result of this overlap, Jeddah's streets turned into torrential floods that swept through the city, severely impacting its residents and infrastructure.

Could the 2009 Jeddah floods be repeated?

Jeddah typically experiences varying amounts of rainfall during the Wasm season, but severe storms such as the historic Jeddah floods of 2009 are rare and occur only over long periods of time.

Although the possibility of such events recurring from a climatic perspective remains, major improvements to Jeddah's stormwater drainage networks and infrastructure have significantly increased preparedness, reducing the likelihood of devastating impacts like those previously experienced by the city.