Floods kill 9 in Egypt

At least nine people have been killed, four seaports closed and nine main highways brought to a standstill due to heavy rains and flooding in southern and eastern Egypt that began yesterday.

In the southern Qena province, torrential rains and flooding paralyzed the Qena-Sohag highway and overwhelmed local drainage and sewage systems.

One local security source, speaking anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media, told the Anadolu Agency that several vehicles in the area – including buses – had been overturned by intense flooding.

In the city of Ras Gharib in Egypt’s eastern Red Sea province, meanwhile, homes have reportedly been inundated by floodwater and local roads turned into lakes.

In the same province, one person was killed and four others injured when a taxi overturned due to flooding, according to local media reports.

In the city of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, seven people were reportedly injured when their vehicles were swept away by heavy flooding.

Six main thoroughfares across the country have been brought to an almost complete standstill, while another three have been officially closed due to floods, Colonel Mustafa Ibrahim, head of the Interior Ministry’s Traffic Directorate, told Anadolu.

Most affected highways, he added, were located near mountainous and desert areas and seacoasts.

According to Ibrahim, the highways that have been closed are the northeastern Cairo-Suez-Hurghada Road, the central Beni Sueif-Minya Road, and the Farafra-Dakhla Road in Egypt’s western New Valley province.

Egypt’s Red Sea Ports Authority, meanwhile, is currently at its highest level of preparedness in the Suez, South Sinai and Red Sea provinces due to exceptionally high wind speeds and heavy rainfall.

Spokesman Malak Youssef said the authority had decided to close Egypt’s Nuweiba Port – used for transporting passengers and cargo into South Sinai – due to wind speeds of up to 20 knots per hour and large wave which were in excess of three metres high.

Speaking at a press conference late yesterday, Youssef added that Port Tawfik – used by oil tankers in the Gulf of Suez – had also been closed, due to 30-knots winds, four-metre-high waves and blinding dust gales.

According to Egypt’s official meteorological agency, the heavy rainfall is set to continue at least until Saturday.