PREPARATIONS are in full swing to tackle possible water-logging as weathermen warned of unsettled weather over the next few days.
According to the Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry’s meteorological directorate, thunderstorms are expected to hit Bahrain this weekend with temperatures dropping to a low of 16C today, and strong gusts of winds reaching speeds of 35 knots on Saturday and Sunday.
The Civil Defence yesterday reaffirmed that an emergency response plan has been devised in collaboration with the ministries concerned and municipalities to tackle possible cases of water-logging.
“During this season, Bahrain witnesses increased rains and atmospheric depressions which could cause accidents due to flooding and water-logging pools in roads, residential areas and tunnels,” said Civil Defence Operations Director Colonel Mohammed Al Ghadeer.
“The unstable weather could also cause the collapse of parts of old buildings, trees and lighting posts in addition to traffic accidents and vehicles being trapped in pools of water.
“There is also an increase in electrical fires.”
Col Al Ghadeer also stated that preparation was heightened in all Civil Defence directorates and centres with several tankers on stand-by to pump large quantities of water from water-logged areas.
He also added that a team was put together from the technical support office which is also equipped with pumps to siphon large quantities of water.
Meanwhile, Northern Municipal Committee chairman Faisal Shabeeb told the GDN that councillors have urged citizens to water-proof their homes.
“As a council we have urged all citizens to apply for the installation of water-proofing in order to preserve the safety of homes and families from exposure to rain,” he stated.
“We continue receiving requests and the Northern Municipality has spared no efforts to maintain many homes and waterproofing them.
“We have submitted 23 requests to the municipality which have been completed while 11 requests are underway and several others have been handed over to contractors for implementation.”
The Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry has provided contact numbers and hotlines for emergencies on their social media accounts.
These include 17875493 for main roads, 80001810 for sanitary network, Northern Municipality 80070000, Southern Municipality 39641880, Civil Defence 17239300 and the Electricity and Water Authority 17515555.
“Please do not open the man-holes when it rains as this has a negative effect on the sewage network’s performance and could cause flooding in houses,” said the ministry on its official Instagram account.
* Meanwhile, the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities announced yesterday that due to the weather conditions the screening of Aladdin, which was scheduled for today, has been postponed.
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