Rescues made in raging waters – Schools shut

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 2: Kuwait Army firemen are partaking in efforts to reopen roads that have been swamped with torrential rain since Sunday’s early hours. The director of moral guidance at the chairmanship of staff, Colonel Mohammad Al- Awadhi, said in a statement that the army firemen have been pumping water from several public places and roads in the Governorate of Al-Farwaniya and locations opposite Al-Messilah bridge where traffic has been jammed due to the high levels of water. Kuwait is currently witnessing sporadic heavy rainfalls, cloudy and windy weather. Meanwhile, Kuwait Fire Forces said in a statement that its teams responded to 103 help calls and rescued up to 106 persons who were stranded amid raging waters on roads and some houses due to the downpour. The KFF said it had received most of the calls from the Governorates of Hawally and Al-Farwaniya, urging people to abstain from emerging outdoors except for necessities.

Measures
Earlier today, the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) announced reopening several sites of rainwater collection after closing them down for precautionary measures, amongst such sites are the sixth ring road, Al-Ghazali and Al-Mangaf tunnels. Ministry Spokesperson Abdullah Al-Ajmi stated to KUNA Sunday that the ministry’s emergency teams are spread across the country to face and deal with troubles caused by the heavy rainfall. He indicated that the teams are coordinating with other concerned ministries and authorities.

Spokesperson Al-Ajmi also mentioned that the ministry previously distributed water pumps to areas where rainwater was expected to pool in order to avoid road closures. He also urged road users to avoid being on the road while it is raining as it might cause water pooling and causing traffic jams indicating that they were currently working on a number of roads, and that he was currently on Sixth Ring Road to oversee process of clearing the road. Kuwait will close schools and universities nationwide for a day due to unstable weather conditions, the country’s education minister said on Sunday. The day off does not include faculty and staff, who are still required to go to work on Monday, added the statement. All final exams across middle school levels, in addition to grades 10 and 11 students, initially scheduled for Monday will now be held a day later, the education ministry said in a statement.

Unstable
The rearranged schedule comes as unstable weather conditions grip much of Kuwait, where heavy rainfall has triggered floods and disrupted traffic, Education Ministry Undersecretary Dr. Ali Al-Yaqoub told KUNA on Sunday. He went on to urge strict compliance with exam-day health precautions aiming to halt the spread of COVID-19. Kuwait’s National Guard personnel are giving a hand in the efforts post the latest heavy rainfall that caused difficulties at some public locations and on the roads throughout the country.

Colonel Dr. Jedaan Fadhel, the Guard official spokesman, told KUNA on Sunday that the Guard personnel drained some swamped spots near Kuwait International Airport to facilitate traffic flow and simultaneously, other teams carried out an identical task in Sabah Al-Ahmad district. Some of the Guard personnel are also helping to remove water accumulation on Al-Ghazali road, rescued an individual who was trapped in the deluge and eased the traffic movement. Personnel and workers of several Kuwaiti authorities and departments have joined forces to ease the hardships caused by the heavy torrential rain, witnessed throughout Kuwait since today’s early hours. (KUNA)

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