Fishing boat drowns in Alexandria due to unstable weather

CAIRO – 8 December 2018: As a result of the unstable weather that has been witnessed across the country for the past few days, a fishing boat has sunk near the fishermen port in el Max neighborhood in Alexandria on Friday.

The boat was drifted away after colliding with rocks according to eyewitnesses; however, no injuries or victims were reported as a result of the incident.

Alexandria eastern port was reported to wittiness several similar incidents for fishing boats during the past couple days due to wind intensity and high waves.

During the past three days, Egypt has been witnessing heavy rains and stormy winds. The government has announced that it is fully prepared for the upcoming winter season, heightening necessary measures to combat expected floods and prevent any relevant problems of accumulated rainwater in the streets.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation has worked on finishing the preparations for winter rains and downpours by carrying out a plan to check the pumping stations, clear canals, water banks and storm drains. Mohamed Abdel Aati, an official in the ministry, said in October that the preparation plan included maintenance of all pumping stations nationwide to be ready for sudden rains.

The ministry installed more than 25 emergency units in West Delta near the critical areas to avoid the recurrence of the 2015 floods.

However, Meteorological experts said on Friday that Cairo is expected to see improvement in temperature starting Saturday after a wave of unstable weather. The temperature will see mild cold in northern and southern Upper Egypt during the night hours, but will remain moderate during the day.

Experts also expected that northern coasts to see rainfall. A morning mist will exist and wind will be active on the eastern parts of the northern coasts, which might result in a disrupt in navigation.