I was on the Kuwait sub on reddit and people were talking about the floods in Kuwait. I had no idea what they were talking about since I’ve been home all day so I popped open @kuwaitup2date and turns out Fahaheel got flooded earlier this evening from the rain. No idea how it happened but it’s horrible, it’s a legit flood.
They’re saying the weather is going to get worse so I decided not to risk it and moved my Lotus to a multistory lot next to my house so it would be parked a floor above ground. Although my building’s basement has never flooded, after watching the videos from Fahaheel I’m not risking it.
If you’re curious to know what has been happening in Fahaheel, check out @kuwaitup2date since he’s been posting a lot of videos.
18 replies on “Floods!!”
I’m in salmiya ( back of mabroor complex) and just after 4am this morning when it was raining heavy you couldn’t see the road at the front and side of our building , tho was nothing like the mangaf videos I saw. It cleared by time I got up later in the morning .
I am at mangaf (the same area all those videos were from) and well yes it was pretty bad a few hours ago few of the roads are better now but the cars literally pushed against each other in front of my very eye. I went downstairs to check on mine too. So far its ok but as I just saw the forecast, I hope it doesn’t get even more worst.
It rained heavily for 5 hours if not more in the south, in Mubarak Alkabeer and mostly in Ahmadi district. The amount of rain that came down was more than what Kuwait usually has for the whole year. The sewage system was not ready, not up to the standards, not maintained. A lot of things happened, a lot of damage to cars and houses that were flooded. People stranded, families stranded, I believe an individual drowned as well trying to help his family. Streets in residential areas like Althaher were muddy rivers like you see in tsunamis. Road tunnels like Almangaf were completely submerged. That’s at least 7 meters high. The head of PART was removed from his position. Minister of public works has resigned. Rains are expected to continue this time with the worst to be from what I’ve heard in northern parts and Aljahra. If you live in an older building/house, move any valuables to a higher place! No one expected it to be this bad, no one was ready.
Im not sure how to compare this with the study I was reading about average kuwaiti IQ.
But when it is going to flood why is every single car owner on the street driving?
What thinking process lead to all these people to be driving during a flood?
You think people know the streets are going to flood and decided to still go out in the roads? Obviously nobody knew, it caught everyone by surprise.
Actually its been all over the news for the past 3 days. They said fridays rain will be worse than what we had 4 days ago and that saturday evening untill dawn there will be more heave rain.
It’s been all over the news for the past 3 days that fahaheel and mangaf will be flooded and cars will be swept away? Or were they just saying it’s gonna rain heavily? Cuz the two are very different things… nobody saw this coming.
Sorry mark,
But i disagree.
The flood doesnt come out of no where at 1 meter high.
It starts with just rain.
Then maybe 1 cm flooding.
Then 2 cm.
Then up to 10cm flooding.
At that point, the streets are kinds flooded.
What do people do ?
They get this “smart” idea to cruz in the car in the rain with thier family to see the flood.
Then it increases to about 25cm.
At that point, more people want to see the flooding, more cars get on the street.
Then the flooding gets worse, while more poeple get in thier cars because they think its a smart idea,
As more rain falls , and its been hours and hours after the initial 10cm flooding, now its over 1 meter, people are stranded, wondering why they are driving a car in a busy street that’s flooded at 1 meter high, while they started the drive and hit the streets when the flood already started.
Google flash floods
Thanks Mark, After you recommend I do some reading I ended up reading the entry in Wikipedia.
What I learned was that flash floods are usually occurring around 6 hours or less. So there is that.
also, What I learned is that an Advanced country such as USA has a motto that says, “Don’t drown, Turn around” Which means don’t drown in the flash flood like a doofus, turn your car around and don’t try to drive across or along a flash flooded area. I think we Kuwaits could learn from this, especially since we have such terrible infrastructure, and although have so much money, are not able to design a proper road to deal with rain.
But I do agree this could be a flash flood, but also, the number of families on the roads in the instagram you posted, is a direct reflection of the critical thinking skills of the population IMO.
I’m not sure their actions reflect a lack of critical thinking skills. Maybe it’s more about Kuwait not having much of a history of major flooding, and so nobody really expected (or believed) that things would get as bad as they did out there. After all, who associates Kuwait with destructive flooding or other natural disasters?
In addition, I suspect there were no proper public warnings and cautionary information issued to the public by the government, which is also inexperienced in natural disaster management. At most they may have relayed weather bulletins about heavy rainfall being likely, without additional information about possible consequences.
Typical 9aydah.
That word is not synonymous with Kuwaiti.
I am not sure why you feel that kuwaitis are 9aidahs.
Pls apologize its inappropriate to call a whole nationality as a 9aidat.
I only hope the MOH issues prophylactic guidance against the water borne illnesses as, leptospirosis which typically spike after a deluge. Trust me this is coming from a leptospira survivor. Mark, you could choose to share the CDC guidelines on doxycycline prophylaxis with your readers here.
english please?
Are you a chemistry teacher that cooks meth?
He is saying that he hopes the govt becomes more proactive, because flooding like this (with the sewage getting washed up into the flood waters) can cause many diseases.
If you were being sarcastic about his use of technical terms, then 🙂
thanks Mrs Mohammed for the explanation.
There is every risk of sewage water getting washed up into the flood waters. In times of floods this is always a matter of public health importance and people that got their feet wet feet in ankle to knee deep water would do well to check with their health care provider if they should be started on tab. Doxycycline.
Rest my case