[The Holy City of Makkah had seen heavy rainfall and thunderstorm last month.]
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia Sunday rejected as sensationalism, rumours and incorrect the reports claiming that the Kingdom would be devastated by the same hurricanes and floods that have already affected its neighbours.
The National Meteorology Centre of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (NMCKSA) said that rumours of a cyclone striking the country are solely intended to panic the populace.
“All the news circulating about the Kingdom being directly affected by hurricanes is incorrect and does not go beyond media sensationalism”, NMCKSA spokesperson Hussein al-Qahtani said writing on social media site X, earlier known as Twitter.
“The Kingdom overlooks semi-enclosed seas in which tropical cyclones do not form and their direct impact is unlikely,” he added.
Al-Qahtani also advised the local residents to only obtain information from authorised sources.
Rumours and fake news are being spread falsely claiming that a strong cyclone is on its way to hit the Kingdom, and it will result in the same kind of devastation that we are seeing in Libya.
More than 11,000 people have died after a Storm Daniel swept away entire buildings with people inside them on September 11. Heavy rainfall that followed caused two large dams to collapse and sent an estimated 30 million cubic meters of water into the Libyan city of Derna.
Rumour mongers tried to create panic by spreading rumours that Saudi Arabia is at the risk of similar type of storm.
Qahtani commenting on a short video clip that shows rain and lightning in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan said the condition in the region is similar to what was seen in Makkah last month.
#Jazan in #SaudiArabia on September 15, 2023 witnessed heavy rainfall accompanied by wind storm similar to what #Makkah had seen last month. Saudi Arabia however rejected as #media sensationalism and rumours reports that a devastating #cyclone is on its way to hit the Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/amWBVCgsdh— ummid.com (@ummid) September 16, 2023
#Jazan in #SaudiArabia on September 15, 2023 witnessed heavy rainfall accompanied by wind storm similar to what #Makkah had seen last month. Saudi Arabia however rejected as #media sensationalism and rumours reports that a devastating #cyclone is on its way to hit the Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/amWBVCgsdh
"The condition of Jazan is similar to what The Holy City of Makkah was exposed to last month", he said.
"The wind speed in Jizan was recorded at 65 km/h due to the strong downward winds accompanying rainy thunderstorms, while the highest amount of rain reached 10 mm, according to the manned station", Qahtani said.
"The center had warned about it before time in accordance with the warning mechanism for weather phenomena", he added.
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