Four dead in Sinai floods

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Red Sea Shadow

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CAIRO/EL-TOR: Four people died, 13 were injured and dozens went missing as a result of flooding caused by heavy rain in Central Sinai Sunday night and Monday.

The area of Wadi El-Amr, near Al-Oja Crossing, was the hardest hit, and entire villages in the area have been evacuated.

Electricity has been cut in the most affected areas and some houses have been destroyed by the flooding, while others have been immersed in high levels of water.

Other reports indicated that the Ras Sidr area on the west coast of the peninsula saw the heaviest flooding on Sunday night, and according to news agency Agence France-Presse, rescue services used rubber rafts to search for the injured and those trapped in their homes.

The four confirmed deaths were all from the Bedouin Tarabin tribe, North Sinai Tagammu party member Khalil Jabr Sawarkeh told Daily News Egypt. Army rescue services have been placed on high alert throughout Sinai.

Government offices and other buildings in Al-Arish, 40 km from the Gaza border, have been evacuated as the floods descended on the outskirts of the city.

The Sinai governor’s office, which was due to host meetings with prominent Bedouin leaders Monday, announced that it had set up an operations room to combat the effects of the flood.

Flooding blocked main roads in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh and heavy rain brought down the ceiling in a part of the airport, an AFP correspondent said.

Parts of Sinai including Taba, Nuweiba and Sharm El-Sheikh experienced power cuts as thousands of tourists in the popular diving resorts spent the night by candle light, in the worst flooding to hit Sinai since January 1994.

Five ports were closed due to bad weather on Monday including Sharm El-Sheikh and Sokhna ports on the mainland.

Sinai is susceptible to torrential rainfall at this time of year, and due to poor or absent drainage, streets are often flooded with water.

Additionally, being a mountainous region, with sharp inclines and declines on the road, the un-drained water travels over large distances.

“There is a sense of dissatisfaction amongst Sinai residents that authorities once again are failing to deal with the flooding appropriately,” Sawarkeh said. –Additional reporting by AFP

Source: http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=27197
 
Just spoke to my mate who lives in Dahab and he is hearing 18 dead and says Naama bay is under a meter of water and the road to Sharm is difficult to pass.
 
We also have had torrential rain here in North Cyprus for about 24 hours, no casualties as far as I know but lots of water everywhere, rain forcast here for most of the week although we are desperate for it, resevoirs empty etc.
Hope Sharms soon back up and running and there is not too much damage.

We'll be there, 4 weeks and counting.
 
Asser, is the water really up in Naama?
 
Flooding was not soooo bad in Naama bay, although it took us a day to sweep my dive centre clean of muck! The beach has moved up a bit closer to the beach bar though!

We had pretty big flooding in Hadaba (ironic being on the Hill!) although fortunately my apartment escaped unscathed. Old town was a mess - the water got a metre high in places and has grounded a few cars and trucks and the old market is full of mud; I went past there this morning.

I wasn't aware of casualties although I suppose it is inevitable. There is no drainage system here but then the last time Sharm saw a storm like this was 1996 I think (correct my dates, please!) I know there was a big rain in 2002 but not like this. I've seen a few stuck buses and cars and the road has been undermined in small sections here and there but no major structural damage as far as I have seen, although I haven't seen much, since then.

Naama bay is not under a metre of water, but the tide is very very high and some roads in and out of the bay, due to no drainage, were, indeed, impassible.

It's quite the event here at the moment, and I feel rather oddly privelaged to have witnessed it.

Safe diving (and Driving, if you live in Sharm),

C.
 
There is no drainage system here but then the last time Sharm saw a storm like this was 1996 I think (correct my dates, please!)
I think it was 1994. During that one the storms grounded a Jeep Cherokee (drifted to the sea near the Lighthouse in Dahab).
 
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Crowley, where is your center in Sharm.
So, how many inches/cm's do they estimate fell?
If I wanted a beer at Oonas's bar, would I have to have rubber boots on>
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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