Torrential rains have made Kota Jordan’s popular destination Petra hit by a flood. Thousands of tourists and local residents have been evacuated.
detikcom Summary, Thursday (29/12/2022) Officials and the Petra Tourism and Development Authority (PDTRA) have called for the evacuation of tourists from this ancient area of the UNESCO city. Heavy rains hitting the region caused mountain water runoff along this ancient city and flash floods last Monday (26/12).
As many as 1,700 tourists and local residents were evacuated. This accident also caused the bus to roll over and three people were injured in the crash in Maan. This bus was swept away on its way to Al-Hussein Bin Talal University.
According to the Jordan News Agency, classes will be suspended until further notice due to bad weather conditions. Raed Khattab, director of Jordan’s meteorological department, said today that the southern governorate region is likely to receive the heaviest rainfall.
From the Twitter footage that was shared, it can be seen that the water was rushing by Petra. A stream of water emerges from the top of the rocky cliffs making it look like a waterfall.
It turns out that this flood is not the first to occur in Petra. This ancient city has been subject to severe flooding for centuries.
Petra was hit by a fatal flood in 1963. The rapidly rising waters claimed the lives of 22 French tourists and a local tour guide.
As an added precaution to warn against flooding and prepare people who may be in the area, an alarm system was installed in 2014. The system is programmed to sound a siren if the water level reaches a certain point outside of what is considered safe.
However, it seems that this alarm is not effective yet. In 2018, a flash flood occurred in the same place, killing 13 people and displacing 4,000 people.
Watch a video “Occurrence of floods in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra, tourists evacuated!“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
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