Biblical flooding in Saudi Arabia sees cars swept away after King prays for rain
King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud demanded that the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pray for rain after recent dry spells, but it appears that they prayed a little too hard
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been hit by biblical flooding after the country's king prayed for rain.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had called on the locals of Saudi Arabia to pray for rain earlier this week.
Due to a lack of rain in recent months, the King, who is also the custodian of the two holy mosques, told his people to “supplicate Allah almighty” and ask for “forgiveness and repentance”.
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He also told them to do “good deeds and give charity” all while praying for rainfall.
The official decree came from the Royal Court on Tuesday (November, 22).
And just 24 hours later, the heavens opened – but in the most dramatic fashion.
Video footage posted on social media show waves of water, measuring several feet high, washing cars away down local roads in the cities of Jeddah, Rabigh and Khulais, while according to reports in the Saudi Gazette, schools and universities closed as a result of the devastating floods.
Pupils were in the middle of sitting their end-of-year exams this month, which have now been delayed.
The country's Civil Defence even advised locals to “exercise caution and steer clear from stagnant rainwater and valleys”.
And the rain was so dramatic, that the road to Mecca – Islam's holiest city – was actually closed, which almost never happens.
It had been reported just before the storms that "light to heavy rain and strong winds were expected”, but it appears that the people in the Kingdom had been praying extra hard for rain, and were rewarded by an ocean-load of it.
Strangely, the the country is now scheduled for 27C seasonal weather, with the rain appearing to have gone just as quickly as it arrived.
Tomorrow (Friday, November 25) is set to see sweltering temperatures of 29C, with just a 1% chance of rain happening, according to BBC's weather service.
No rain is predicted to hit the area for the rest of the month, and the first few weeks of December.
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