Strong winds and heavy rain hit Mecca

Schools in Mecca were forced to close their doors on Wednesday as strong winds and heavy rain hit the city, located in the western region of the Kingdom, for several hours starting from Tuesday evening, according to witnesses.

While worshippers were circumambulating the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque at around 6:00 PM local time, a lightning strike hit the famous Clock Tower in the Fairmont Makkah Hotel, illuminating the sky of the holy city.

Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesperson for the Saudi Arabia's National Center of Meteorology, informed AFP that wind speeds exceeded 80 kilometers per hour.

He noted that this intensity of wind is similar to the storm that caused a crane to collapse in the Grand Mosque in 2015, resulting in the loss of over a hundred lives and injuring dozens.

However, as of Tuesday, there have been no reports of casualties due to the adverse weather conditions.

Abu Mayada, a resident of Mecca, told AFP, "I was buying cigarettes when everything turned black in front of me" as the storm began.

The fifty-year-old man continued, "Suddenly, I lost control of the car. I couldn't see anything. I started to hear the Quran on the radio. I didn't understand what was happening."

The National Center of Meteorology in Saudi Arabia tweeted that the residential neighborhood of Al-Kakiya in southern Mecca recorded 45 millimeters of rainfall per hour.

Residents of Mecca sent videos to AFP showing pilgrims outside the Grand Mosque struggling to maintain their balance amidst the fierce winds that knocked over the colorful plastic barriers, sending them scattering across the marble floor, soaked with rainwater.

Several residents who spoke to AFP declined to reveal their family names.

Mohammed, a resident of the city, was shopping in a store during the peak of the storm and said, "The scene was terrifying."

He added, "Everything happened within minutes after the rain started crazily pouring."

Youssef, another resident of the city, confirmed that the month of August usually brings strong winds to Mecca, but he emphasized that Tuesday's storm was the "worst" experience he recalls.

Despite the floods subsiding significantly by Wednesday morning, the Mecca Emirate decided to exercise more caution.

They transitioned from in-person to online education on Wednesday "due to the unstable weather conditions and to ensure the safety of everyone," as announced on Twitter late Tuesday.

The National Center of Meteorology warned on Wednesday of further storms accompanied by rain and winds in Mecca Emirate and the western regions of the Gulf Kingdom.

Al-Qahtani affirmed that this bout of bad weather is "consistent with the seasonal aspect, especially in the Mecca region."


AFP