Large pools of water, an entire open air food court evacuated, panic-stricken individuals trying desperately to find a single vacant white taxi, such were the scenes on Tuesday evening as a short rain fall left many of Cairo’s districts in a frenzy.
Only a few hours after heavy rains in Heliopolis, Nasr city, Salah Salem and a few more disticts, the majority of the city’s streets amassed large swathes of puddles. Buses filled to the brim with passengers despite unmoving traffic.
Photos of tunnels-turned-pools also circulated on social media as many took to expressing frustration from the expected poor infrastructure conditions and ineffective drainage systems.
just left cairo & this happened if a few hrs of rain does this what will rising sea levels do…… pic.twitter.com/8NnniXFVsJ
— Alia ElKattan (@aliaelkattan) October 22, 2019
Heavy rains are expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday as well.
Egypt’s Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, announced that universities and schools are to be suspended in some areas of Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia based on Egypt’s Meterological Authority’s reports of continued rains in the next days as per local news outlets Al Shorouk, Al Amal and Al Ahram.
The rain seepage was also attested in several establishments, including Cairo’s airport.
Cairo International airport flooded from rain today #Egypt #Sisi https://t.co/CRputNypNl
— Om El Banat (@DaliaNewYork) October 22, 2019
In the hopes of evading the rain, the city’s underground system also saw a massive spike of passengers who also hoped to avoid the eminent street congestion.
Yearly rains occur in Cairo and Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria during the winter, causing the same disruption, gridlocks and floods.
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