Saudi Arabia is best known for its enormous deserts, stunning sand dunes, and scorching heat most of the year. However, amid a dramatic change in weather conditions, some parts of the country are struggling with extreme flooding following an unprecedented period of hefty rainfall. In the kingdom’s capital, Riyad, floods swept away many cars.
The gushing waters transformed Saudi Arabia’s droughty wadi into rivers, causing extraordinary and devastating flooding across the region. From the lush southwestern mountains to the enormous reddish deserts, the sudden deluge took residents by surprise.
The situation reflects the recent weather myopia that has gripped neighboring Dubai and other cities in the United Arab Emirates, where persistent downpours have led to significant flooding and caused widespread disruption.
Saudi Arabia, a country that receives little rainfall year-round, was faced with a phenomenon for which it was fundamentally unprepared, both structurally and socially.
Dr Raghu Murtugudde, former lecturer at the University of Maryland and IIT Bombay Earth System, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, said: “As the monsoon season approaches, upper atmosphere winds over the Arabian Sea, Indian Peninsula and Bay of Bengal start blowing periodically from east to west . These winds are called the Indian East Stream. At the same level, mighty winds blow from the west towards the east and north of India and are called the westerly jet.
“Since mid-March, easterly and westerly jets together produce sustained counterclockwise winds near the surface, called anticyclones. At the center of anticyclones are downdraft winds that compress the air, heated it and create heatwaves over parts of the continent. India,” he said.
Experts predict that the recent climate trend in the Middle East may be due to westerly disturbances coming from the Mediterranean Sea, as well as anticyclonic activity, which was a key factor even during the Dubai floods.
“A western disturbance from the Mediterranean Sea ran into this anticyclone, causing a devastating deluge over Dubai recently. Now the anticyclone, which has pumped moisture from the heated Arabian Sea into the UAE, is meeting a cyclonic circulation over the Mediterranean Sea and Saudi Arabia. Arabia will produce very hefty rainfall in parts of Saudi Arabia,” Dr. Murtugudde said.
“The heat from El Nino supercharged the streams and produced a enormous amount of moisture, which resulted in extreme rainfall. This is a classic case of natural variability that has been amplified by El Nino and global warming,” he added.
Floods in Dubai have brought life to a halt in many areas, disrupting normal activities, as authorities urged people to take safety measures and avoid low-lying areas prone to flash floods. Civil defense teams are working tirelessly to conduct rescue operations and lend a hand residents cope with the sudden crisis.
Beyond the immediate disruption and potential threat to life, the floods in Saudi Arabia highlight changing weather patterns that experts link to broader global climate change. They raise concerns about the readiness of the country’s infrastructure to cope with such extreme weather conditions.
Also of interest is the kingdom’s ability to mitigate the effects of such natural disasters. In a country where the sun beats down relentlessly all year round, it is essential to develop a strategy to combat such sporadic natural elements.
The experience highlights the urgent need to modernize infrastructure capacity to cope with an increasingly unstable global climate.
The floods in Saudi Arabia, which come on the heels of those in Dubai, require a broader understanding of the changing climate in the region. They also emphasize the need for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to develop long-term strategies to deal with such extreme weather conditions.
Resilience to such challenges is inevitably one of the most essential tests and responsibilities facing the age of climate change.
