Emergency declared as Egyptians brace for floods, water cut-off expected

CAIRO - 11 March 2020: A state of emergency began Wednesday as Egyptians brace for a thunderstorm and heavy rains Thursday-Saturday.

Essam el-Gazzar, minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, said in a Wednesday press conference that demand on the drinking water will be reduced in some areas and may be cut off if necessary with prior notice as a precaution.

Thursday was declared a paid holiday to avoid traffic in streets, with the government urging people to stay home and not to park near trees or in a low area, as the rain may amount to 60-70 millimeters, which exceeds the infrastructure's capacity in most cities.

The rain is expected to be extremely heavy on the North Coast and the Nile Delta, which is Egypt's lowest region. Floods are awaited on Sinai, the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea.
The weather will also be accompanied with sandy winds, thunder and low temperatures.

Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Sharawy said the official social media pages of every governorate is updated every six hours with the updates of the weather and means to counter its effects.