Rainstorm hits Taiz city [Archives:2003/640/Local News]

By Yemen Times Staff
Taiz Bureau
Ten houses were completely damaged, more than 40 houses had collapsed, tens of buses and cars were washed away, caused by torrential streams resulting from heavy rainstorm that hit Taiz, 260 km of Sana'a, on June 3-4..
The torrents caused serious damage to the city streets, citizens' properties and disrupted transport movement inside the city.
The heavy rainfall caused severe damage to even the Taiz-Sana'a highway and Taiz-Shara'ab road.
“Serious damage had been caused by rain flood streams. Agricultural lands were washed away, serious flooding in the city also caused serious problems,” Eng. Saeed Ashaibani, the Deputy General Manager of the Public Works told the Yemen Times.
Hamim Abdulkareem, a citizen said, “The heavy rains have caused a partial damage to my house and we have to stay outside till the early morning.”
“We are not able to go to my house. Protection walls to our houses are needed to be built by the concerned contracting companies,” he said.
It worthwhile mentioning that building water catchment works and water conduits are still underway within the framework of implementing the II Phase of protecting the city of Taiz from the torrents' damage.
Other projects belonging to Saba Contracting Company had been seriously damaged in Qalabah and Salah areas.
Waterway conduits implemented by the company had been washed away, because they had been loosely fixed on the ground.
Taiz City compared to any other cities of the republic is exposed to torrents disasters as most of its houses are situated in the way of water rushing down Saber mountain. The project intended for ensuring protection of the city against torrential rains, especially torrents surging down of Saber mountain began in its first phase in 1990. In 2000 the first phase of the project was finished but the second phase of this vitally important project began only at the beginning of this year. Taiz city is usually exposed heavy torrents resulting from rain storms that hit the city particularly in summer. Summer rain storms have up to now affected the completion and work of the project causing delay in dates of finishing it at the planned periods.
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