Egypt’s government apologizes for heavy rain consequences

CAIRO - 27 April 2018: Egypt’s government apologized for the consequences of the heavy rain that flooded the country’s governorates and streets during the past couple of days.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said during the Cabinet’s weekly meeting, Thursday that the government feels truly sorry for the consequences of the flood that affected citizens’ properties, houses and cars.

Earlier on Thursday president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said that the government will intensify its efforts to prevent the reoccurrence of those consequences that most of the Egyptians suffered from during the past two days.

“I fully understand the state of suffering that hit some Egyptians as a result of the sudden and unusual rainfall during the last two days; I assure you that the state’s authorities will intensify their efforts to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents,” President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi wrote on his official Twitter account Thursday morning.

أتفهم تماماً حالة المعاناه التى ألمت ببعض المصريين نتيجة الآثار الناجمة عن تساقط الأمطار بشكل مفاجئ وغير معتاد عليه خلال اليومين الماضيين ، وأؤكد أن الدولة بكافة أجهزتها ستكثف من جهودها لتلافى حدوث مثل هذه الأثار مرة أخرى.

— Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) April 26, 2018

During the past two days many Egyptians were suffering from huge damages as a result of excessive rain. Even though the Egyptian Meteorological Authority has warned of unstable weather from the beginning of this week, officials have failed to take sensible precautionary measures or provide assistance after torrential rain hit several parts of Cairo and Giza hard.

Rainfall throughout the capital caused some buildings, houses and bridges to collapse; some governorates such as Suez, Ain Sokhna and Ismailia were also affected.

Many people have taken to social media and television stations to pour their wrath on the provincial officials, emergency departments, and officials in charge of drainage facilities accusing them of failure and moreover called for interrogating the officials.

The users on social media sites sarcastically shared photos of drains as great inventions that hope to reach Egypt soon, asking, “Where have the drains gone?

The residents of the New Cairo got the lion’s share of the damage. Videos and photos went viral online showing streets of the Fifth Settlement and El Shorouk city flooded in which water levels rose over one meter; the vehicles were submerged in the flooded cities.