2009 Jeddah floods

{{Short description|2009 natural disaster in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox weather event

| image = Jeddah, Saudi Arabia locator map.png

| caption = The location of Jeddah within Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula.

| alt =

}}{{Infobox weather event/History

| duration = 25 November 2009

}}{{Infobox weather event/Effects

| year = 2009

| damages = 1000000000

| currency = SAR

| country = SAU

| fatalities = 122[https://web.archive.org/web/20130621012859/http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=130636&d=3&m=1&y=2010 Arab News] (more than 350 missing)

| affected = Jeddah and other areas of Makkah Province

}}{{Infobox weather event/Footer}}

File:Jeddah Flood - King Abdullah Street.jpg-Saudi Arabia)]]

File:Jeddah map.png to the north. The main highways to Mecca run to the southeast. Map scale: approx. {{convert|25|km|mi}} from north to south.]]

File:Jeddah 1924.jpg

{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=November 2012}}

The 2009 Saudi Arabian floods affected Jeddah, on the Red Sea (western) coast of Saudi Arabia, and other areas of Makkah Province.{{citation|title=Saudi Arabian floods kill 77, leave scores missing|url= https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iXnnwi-QAtxEShlY_jrXNHDQdIsQ|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140221091045/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iXnnwi-QAtxEShlY_jrXNHDQdIsQ|url-status= dead|archive-date= 21 February 2014|publisher=Agence France Presse|date=26 November 2009|accessdate=26 November 2009}}{{Cite news|title=Saudi Arabia floods leave 48 dead|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8380501.stm|work=BBC News|date=26 November 2009|accessdate=26 November 2009}} They have been described by civil defence officials as the worst in 27 years.{{Cite news|author=Ayman Anqawi|title=Flooding kills 77 in Jeddah, Thousands of pilgrims stranded on highway|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112655554|newspaper=Saudi Gazette|date=26 November 2009|accessdate=26 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130010910/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112655554|archive-date=30 November 2009|url-status=dead}} As of 3 January 2010, some 122 people had been reported to have been killed, and more than 350 were missing. Some roads were under a meter (three feet) of water on 26 November, and many of the victims were believed to have drowned in their cars. At least 3,000 vehicles were swept away or damaged.{{citation|title=King orders aid for victims, Death toll in Jeddah flooding hits 83|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112755615|author1=Ibrahim Alawi|author2=Eid Al-Harthi|newspaper=Saudi Gazette|date=27 November 2009|accessdate=26 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302075732/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112755615|archive-date=2 March 2012|url-status=dead}} The death toll was expected to rise as flood waters receded, allowing rescuers to reach stranded vehicles.{{citation|title=Jeddah flood death toll reaches 77|url=http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=128861&d=27&m=11&y=2009&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom|author=Muhammad Humaidan|newspaper=Arab News|date= 27 November 2009|accessdate=27 November 2009}}

More than 70 millimetres (2.76 inches) of rain fell in Jeddah in just four hours on 25 November.{{citation|title=Damage may top SR1 billion|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112755625|author=Saleh Al Zahrani|newspaper=Saudi Gazette|date=26 November 2009|accessdate=27 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520000059/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112755625|archive-date=20 May 2010|url-status=dead}} This is nearly twice the average for an entire year{{citation|title=Jidda, Saudi Arabia: Average rainfall|url= http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N21E039+2100+4102401G1|publisher=World Climate|accessdate=27 November 2009}} and the heaviest rainfall in Saudi Arabia in a decade.{{citation|title=Muslim pilgrims climb Mount Arafat as 2m brave heat outside Mecca|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/26/hajj-mecca-muslim-pilgrims|newspaper=The Guardian|author=Ian Black|date=26 November 2009}} The flooding came just two days before the expected date of the Eid al-Adha festival and during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to nearby Mecca.{{citation|title=Rain soaks hajj pilgrims in Mecca|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph|date=25 November 2009|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/6656795/Rain-soaks-hajj-pilgrims-in-Mecca.html}} Business losses were estimated at a billion riyals (US$270 million). The poorer neighbourhoods in the south of Jeddah were particularly hard hit,{{citation|title=Jeddah, city in a lake|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112655556|first=Abdullah|last=Al Bargi|newspaper=Saudi Gazette|date=26 November 2009|accessdate=27 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202065607/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112655556|archive-date=2 December 2009|url-status=dead}}{{citation|title=Anxious residents follow weather reports amid clean-up|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112755626|author=Faleh Al Dhibyani|newspaper=Saudi Gazette|date=27 November 2009|accessdate=27 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302075945/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112755626|archive-date=2 March 2012|url-status=dead}} as was the area around King Abdulaziz University. The university was closed for vacation at the time of the floods, preventing even higher casualties.{{citation|title=What happened was a man-made problem|url=http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=128881&d=27&m=11&y=2009|author=Michel Cousins|newspaper=Arab News|date=27 November 2009|accessdate=27 November 2009}}