Kuwait Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Friday called on people, especially motorists, to be careful due to unstable weather conditions.
Kuwait Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Friday called on people, especially motorists, to be careful due to unstable weather conditions.
Heavy rains wreaked havoc across Kuwait Friday, resulting in massive flooding of major highways, streets and neighborhoods. The Minister of Public Works Hussam Al Roumi resigned in the wake of the crisis, reported local Arabic newspapers and the Kuwait National Guard was called in to help as roads and homes were flooded, vehicles submerged and emergency services stretched to the limit responding to flash floods in various parts of the country.

Kuwait has received 33.70 millimeters of rain within the last 24 hours, reported Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Department with rain still failing as of 10pm local time. The semi-arid country typically receives around 21 millimeters of rainfall for the entire month of November.





The massive rainfall on Friday is the latest in a week of excessive rainfall. Last Monday night/Tuesday morning, Kuwait received around 58 millimeters of rain, more than a third of total annual average rainfall. The resultant flood, especially of major highways, tunnels and underpasses and the widespread damage caused to property including vehicles led to the sacking to several high ranking government officials in the public roads authority and the ministry of public works.

As of 10pm Friday night, dozens of roads, neighborhoods and areas of Kuwait were submerged under water with homes, vehicles and tens of thousands of dinars in property damage. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.

The Interior Ministry issued a statement warning people to stay off the roads and avoid going out except in emergencies due to the extreme weather and flooding.