Okaz / Saudi Gazette

TAIF — Heavy rains that lashed Taif on Tuesday evening left one person dead and devastated the animal husbandry too — killing a number of sheep and cattle.

Spokesman of the Civil Defense, Col. Saeed Al-Ghamdi, did not identify the dead man but said he was swept by the rains off a mountain in the southern parts of the city, and he fell to his death to the ground.

He said the heavy rains also caused the death of a large number of sheep and cattle, triggered valley floods and blocked some roads.

The spokesman said there were light to medium rains in Makkah but heavy downpour was witnessed in Taif and other areas of the region.

He said three cars were left tangled in the rain and floodwater and were pulled to safety by the Civil Defense teams.

He said there was one person in one of the vehicles, two in the second while the third car was empty.

Ghamdi asked citizens and expatriates to stay away from the valley passes, the water pools and the electricity generating sources for their safety.

According to mayor Mohammed Bin Humail Al-Humail, 30 municipality teams consisting of about 1,000 workers who were supplied with about 200 various equipment were able to dry up about 100,000 tons of water from the areas, which did not have a sewage system.

He said the water drainage network in Taif was able to dry up more than a million cubic meters of the rain and flood water from the bottom of the valleys.

The mayor said the teams are now working to remove the mud and puddles left on the streets by the rains and the floods.

The heavy rains, which also fell on Bisha, had cut electric power and besieged a number of people and cars.

Fire broke out in a palm tree farm when the electricity posts were washed away by he rains and the floods.

In the southern region of Asir, 15 teams from the municipality, consisting of 1,038 workers, were drying up the logged water in various areas in the region.