FLOODING UPDATE: THE TOLL RISES IN "JEDDAH'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000457

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD,
SE/S-0,CA/OCS/ACS-NESA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2019
TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC ECON KPAO PGOV SA SCUL SENV
SUBJECT: FLOODING UPDATE: THE TOLL RISES IN "JEDDAH'S
KATRINA" (CORRECTED COPY)

REF: A. JEDDAH 0456

B. RIYADH 1278

C. JEDDAH 0342

JEDDAH 00000457 001.4 OF 002


Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)

1.(C) SUMMARY: Reports continue of a mounting toll in terms
of loss of life and property damage as a result of
Wednesday's heavy rains and flash flooding in the Jeddah
region (ref A). Saudi media highlight the flood devastation
in front page stories. The public announcement that 83
persons are known to have died is accompanied by the
expectation, confirmed by Governor of the Mecca Region Prince
Khalid Al Faisal, that the toll may rise. There is suspicion
that the casualty numbers are being deliberately understated
to avoid alarming the population, with rumors suggesting the
final death toll may reach into the hundreds. Around
midnight yesterday the Consulate learned of the death of an
American child in Wednesday's flood, and -- with weather
reports being SMSed around Jeddah describing a 20-30% chance
of further rain -- issued a warden message advising caution
in the event of renewed rain and flash floods. There are also
signs that the political "blame game" has begun, amid
speculation that the Jeddah mayor and other municipal
officials could be sacked. One Saudi businessman described
the flood as "Jeddah's Katrina." END SUMMARY.


Hajj and flood stories double-billed
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as SAG authorities respond
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2. (SBU) Arabic and English media continue to highlight the
flood devastation with graphic photos of piles of wrecked
vehicles on the front pages of several papers today as well
as pictures of residents of south/east Jeddah amid the rubble
and debris of inundated homes and overturned cars. While the
current official death toll is 83, the number is expected to
rise. Accounts of the flood damage and complaints about
Jeddah's poor drainage system share media space with the more
positive and conventional Hajj and Eid al-Adha stories.
Business losses are estimated at SAR 1 billion, with at least
3,000 vehicles reported submerged or damaged. Saudi
officials, including the Governor of Mecca Region, Prince
Khaled Al Faisal, and the Governor of Jeddah, Prince Mishal
bin Majed, were reported to have inspected the affected areas
of Jeddah yesterday. Civil Defense authorities have
established offices to dispense aid to flood victims.
According to Al Arabiya TV, King Abdullah has issued orders
for residents of south and east Jeddah displaced by the flood
-- a mixture mainly of foreign workers and poorer Saudis --
to be placed on public assistance.


American child fatality
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3. (SBU) Around midnight yesterday post learned of the death
of an American three-year-old child which occurred on
Wednesday as the family was driving to Jizan on Eid holiday.
Their car was engulfed by fast-moving water as they drove
past the King Abdulaziz University in south Jeddah; in the
effort to exit the vehicle the child was swept away. More
than twenty-four hours later, following a search of area
hospitals, the bereaved father finally located the child's
body at the university hospital. He told our consular chief
that he had seen "hundreds" of bodies, many of them children,
at Jeddah hospital morques.


Anger at Jeddah municipality
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4. (C) At a Thanksgiving dinner last evening, prominent
Jeddah attorney Kareem Nazir (strictly protect),son of

JEDDAH 00000457 002.4 OF 002


retired, long-serving Saudi ambassador to Argentina,
inveighed against the "incompetence" of officials surrounding
Jeddah Mayor (Engineer) Adel Faqih who had failed to assure
that the city had an adequate drainage system. He displayed
photo after photo on his mobile phone of the flooded streets
and underpasses of Jeddah and predicted the Mayor's own head
would roll in a matter of weeks. "Personally I like the
mayor," Nazir said, "but he is surrounded by incompetents.
Mark my words that heads will roll over this." Nazir
described his driver's narrow escape from death when his car
was caught in turbulent floodwaters in an underpass where
there was no storm drain; the driver broke a window to escape
and swam to safety. Occupants of a small bus nearby were not
so fortunate and are believed to have drowned. One
U.S.-educated Saudi businessman, Walid Banawi (strictly
protect),decried the chronic drainage problems in this
cosmopolitan city of 3.5 million, calling the recent flood
"Jeddah's Katrina."


Leaks at KAUST -- the final straw?
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5. (SBU) Flooding at the King Abdullah University of Science
and Technology (KAUST),45 minutes north of Jeddah, mirrored
the situation in the city. The newly-constructed student
apartments at KAUST experienced leaks and the same drainage
issues, puddles turning into lakes and roofs collapsing, as
elsewhere in the region. The hotel where female students live
was evacuated although many students were making the Hajj
pilgrimage or were out of the country on holiday. The tape
drives for Shaheen, the KAUST supercomputer, were reportedly
damaged by the rains, although the computer itself survived.
Several American students broadcast on their blogs that this
could be the "final straw" for some students who had
contemplated leaving after just one semester. One student
estimated that the number of students departing after the
inaugural semester could be as high as 100, or 25 percent of
the current student body at KAUST, and one third of the
non-Saudis. Post believes the figure is probably an
exaggeration since most students are committed for two years
and there has been much discussion that with the weakness of
the U.S. economy, finding jobs back home would be difficult
now (refs B and C).


Cloudy skies, but so far
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no more rain in Jeddah
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6. (SBU) COMMENT: Skies are mainly overcast, though with
patches of blue, but residents of the affected areas of
Jeddah are said to be anxious about the weather. So far
there is no rain here on this the second day after what is
being dubbed "The Wednesday Flood" and the first day of Eid
al-Adha. Hajj rituals in Mecca continue smoothly and
uninterrupted, amid occasional light rain showers. With the
singular exception of the tragic drowning of the American
child on Wednesday, no other flood-related problems have been
reported among American citizens, residents or pilgrims, in
the Kingdom's Western Region. Post transmitted by local
telegram today a condolence message from Ambassador Smith to
King Abdullah. END COMMENT.


QUINN