المملكة: Urgent: Jeddah Municipality: Rain alerts "Red" And the response depends on the rain condition

Clarified Jeddah MunicipalityAny rain warning" Sourced from The National Center of Meteorology, regardless of its rank, is given high importance according to the estimates of the Jeddah Governorate Municipality, in terms of maximum readiness in 15 support centers distributed near critical sites and the roads leading to these sites, and thus the response varies depending on the rain condition that Jeddah is witnessing.

Hypotheses and experiments

Plans for dealing with rainy conditions in the General Department of Emergency and Crisis in the Governorate Municipality. Jeddah is not a product of the moment, but was developed after a series of hypotheses and experiments, and lessons learned from every rain event that the governorate experienced, as well as parallel experiences in various parts of the cities of the Kingdom. And not only that, but these plans are subject to continuous updating throughout the year.

Through approximately 7 hypotheses implemented by the Jeddah Governorate Secretariat in the field, office, and operations, and others in which it participated with the concerned authorities, the Crisis and Disaster Center seeks to reveal Operational gaps and areas for improvement, raising the readiness of cadres, enhancing integrated work and transfer of knowledge, improving the speed of decision-making and accuracy of information exchange, in addition to developing more flexible and realistic response scenarios.

The Preparedness Phase

The director of the Crisis and Disaster Center in the Jeddah Municipality, Faisal Aiban, indicates that the first steps in dealing with the rainy situation include preparations before the rainy season, called the"Readiness stage"

He says: " This stage includes a set of proactive measures aimed at raising the level of preparedness and reducing potential risks, by reviewing and updating emergency plans for rainy conditions in accordance with operational developments, based on the lessons learned from the hypothetical exercises, and previous parallel experiences in other regions."

Early coordination

It shows that during this stage, early coordination is carried out with the relevant authorities, and an inventory of critical sites, water gathering points, valleys, and torrential streams observed since last season, in addition to listing the new critical points and placing them on the list of priorities, and then updating the risk maps.

He adds: " We are working to ensure the readiness of field teams, equipment, machinery, support centers, and rainwater drainage networks and canals, before the start of the rainy season, as well as subjecting them to periodic maintenance and tests, in addition to implementing internal and external awareness campaigns to raise awareness of preventive measures, and testing communication channels and mechanisms for exchanging information between the operations center and partner agencies through operational hypothetical exercises."

For early warning

As soon as the National Center of Meteorology’s alerts are received through the automated early warning system, the Operations and Emergency Center in the Jeddah Municipality works to receive the alert and analyze it in terms of the degree of danger, the accompanying effects, and the geographical and temporal scope of the rainy situation.

Here the director of the Crisis and Disaster Center comments by saying: "After completing the analysis of the alert, it is circulated to the concerned departments and authorities in the secretariat, according to the approved communication matrix (e-mail, wireless network, and direct phones), and to ensure the presence of cadres and mechanisms and their stationing in the support centers, while following up on reports of new cases in the centers and their needs on an ongoing basis."

Sudden change

He stated that raising the appropriate level of preparedness, including monitoring, preparedness, and response, depends largely on the degree of alert, but readiness is at its maximum with any alert in anticipation of a sudden change in its degree.

In the event that the rainy situation is included under the red alert, he pointed out that the entire energies of the secretariat are concentrated in the support centers a maximum of 120 minutes before the start of the situation, Reinforcing critical sites and priority areas, such as hospitals, tunnels, and main streets, with equipment a maximum of 60 minutes before the start of the situation.

He continued: " Represents the Crisis and Disaster Center and the Support and Response Department in the Jeddah Municipality when activating the committees responsible for managing the situation, which are composed of members representing the concerned authorities, submitting up-to-date reports to the Chairman of the Rain Committee, and coordinating with the General Administration of Institutional Communication in the Municipality to broadcast warning and awareness messages before the start of the rainy situation."

Rainfall

As soon as the rain begins, the rain situation begins to be monitored operationally and in the field around the clock through the Operations and Emergency Center, according to what Faisal Aiban confirmed, and said: "We monitor Rainwater drainage and critical sites, and we receive reports and process them according to priority, in addition to supporting field teams and making decisions to escalate the response when needed, and informing the concerned authorities and decision makers of developments."

Developing the system

In light of the development of the system of mechanisms and equipment for treating the effects of rain, it was stated that the work of inventorying the damages and operational observations, and initiating the withdrawal of water from the affected sites and treating it according to priority, has become faster than before, as the Jeddah Municipality continues to restore conditions to normal immediately after the rain event ends, in coordination with the concerned departments and competent authorities.

He pointed to the preparation of reports that also include performance evaluations. And extracting lessons learned, through which work begins to update plans and procedures again, to be applied in other rainy situations.

It is noteworthy that the field teams that begin their work in confronting rainy conditions are affiliated with 11 municipalities and 15 support centers, reinforced with 7,160 individuals and 1,621 equipment and machinery.

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