Located in the South-west of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah is more than a harbour. It is Saudi Arabia’s biggest Red Sea city and second only to Riyadh the capital. During summer, this metropolis becomes a political capital and a tourist resort for foreigners and Saudis alike.
The city of Jeddah was affected by serious and unexpected floods; two great ones took place in 2009, and in 2011. The human and material tolls were considerable, since these floods caused the death to hundreds of people, damaged thousands of buildings built on basins' slopes, which, however, had the necessary building permits. To cope with these natural disasters, several urban hydraulic measures were undertaken: like building dams and canals to collect surface waters. These urban measures aimed at the protection of inhabitants and belongings against the risks of floods as well as the interception and the drainage of water streams.
Although these protection measures are important, expensive, and effective, they are no longer enough or effective to cope with the evolution of the natural disasters that the city of Jeddah is constantly exposed to. These protective hydraulic measures did not make it possible to reach risk zero situations. Damages and risks were transferred to other zones
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