The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently organized a workshop on how to deal with risks related to rain and floods during the upcoming rainy season.
Organized by the Department of Operations and Maintenance of Riyadh governorate, the workshop explored four major themes including the flood emergency plan, launching the “hazir” (caution) app which is currently used in Riyadh, the accompanying media plan, and the public awareness plan for disasters.
The ministry’s information center plans to use the “hazir” system during rain to guide city dwellers to avoid standing water and floods arising from heavy rain.
The “hazir” system is a smart app for mobile phones and provides cautionary notifications to the city’s residents on critical points, and flooded roads and areas.
Users of the services can also send reports on flooded locations and critical points in the streets through their GPS-supported devices to the ministry’s staff which will allow them to find suitable solutions for these flooded areas.
In its efforts to benefit from the successful experience of Riyadh governorate, the ministry explored the emergency flood plan and preventive maintenance of the rainwater disposal network before the advent of the rainy season to allow the municipalities to update their current plans.