Saeed Al-Suraihi

Okaz

Recent rains and floods in Makkah swept away 741 cars, 426 houses and 19 farms. But, here we are only talking about the material losses, not the psychological ones.



Makkawis were pained to see their cars washed away, their houses being destroyed and their farms damaged. The Makkah municipal council on one hand and the local municipality and Civil Defense on the other have differed in their accounts of what had really happened.



While the municipal council had described the losses caused by the rains and floods to be a “real disaster”, both the municipality and Civil Defense have expressed certain reservations. They said the losses were no more than “emergency incidents”.



They made this clear this during a recent meeting to assess the damages. Interestingly, the Makkah mayor was absent from the meeting.



If, out of curiosity, we calculated the losses in cash, we would have to calculate the value of the 1,176 units lost in the floods.



If we estimate the value of each unit to be SR10,000, we will find that the losses have gone beyond SR10 million.



Regardless, the municipality and the Civil Defense did not believe that this huge amount of money lost by the residents of Makkah suburbs as catastrophic. They said it was no more than emergency incidents, just like a car tire puncturing, a gas cylinder exploding or a lightning bolt striking an animal farm.



The difference between the three authorities in finding a common name for what had happened is linguistic in nature. Therefore, it should be referred to the specialized linguists to rule on.



Until this ruling is made, I suggest that the municipal council, the municipality and the Civil Defense stop constructing dams to ward off floods and systems to drain rainwater.



The linguistic tug of war between the three concerned authorities is a vital matter that should not be ignored. We should not skip this important issue to look at trivial matters such as preserving the lives and properties of people.