Some Arab countries are exposed to torrential rains during the year, causing a lot of losses, due to the lack of infrastructure to benefit from these torrents, despite their recurrence. The availability of advanced meteorological technology increases the responsibility of Arab governments in confronting the torrent disaster.
The floods have revealed a deficit in the infrastructure that can be used to deal with their challenges without affecting the normal course of life, or to benefit from that water in a way that contributes to alleviating the severity of the renewable water deficit. This has happened in many countries, even though some of them have financial abundance. The floods have caused the disruption of schools and some public facilities in these countries.
Forecasting Tools
Although floods are natural disasters that leave undesirable economic, social and even political effects, the progress in geographic information systems and the prediction tools provided by modern technologies have made dealing with flood disasters possible. They have also enabled countries to reduce expected losses and even re-employ flood water in highly beneficial uses, such as using that water in agriculture, which is one of the problems of the Arab region due to water scarcity.
It is important to point out the climate changes that the world has witnessed over the past few years, which have cast their shadows over areas of the globe that were not experiencing flood-related disasters, but were – and still are – suffering from a scarcity of rain. Among those areas are the Arab countries.
Estimates of some flood losses
Through a quick survey of the reality of floods in Arab countries, with the exception of the Gulf countries, we find that floods occurred in Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, which are countries with lower financial efficiency and infrastructure compared to the Gulf countries:
- According to a study by Cairo University published in 2022 entitled “Global planning procedures for dealing with floods in the built environment and their suitability for the Egyptian situation,” Egypt was exposed to 35 floods during the period from 1947 to 2020, 18 of which were classified as severe, and about 15 floods were classified as moderate. The study estimated the direct and indirect economic losses of these floods at $1.2 billion.
- In Yemen, a report by the United Nations Population Fund spoke of losses in the country in July 2024, due to floods that swept away hundreds of homes, as about two thousand families were damaged by the floods, more than 100 shelters were destroyed or lost, and obtaining clean drinking water and sanitation services became almost impossible.
According to the description of the Unified Arab Economic Report for the year 2023, the Arab region is considered one of the most water-scarce regions in the world.
- In Sudan, the losses were greater due to the collapse of the Arbaat Dam in the Port Sudan area, where about 70 villages around the dam witnessed significant economic losses, and 20 other villages were destroyed, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
- In Libya, some cities witnessed major floods in September 2023, and the most affected city was the city of Derna due to the collapse of two dams near the city. A World Bank report estimated that those affected by this disaster were around 250,000 people, including displaced, missing, and dead.
- In Morocco and Algeria, on September 7, 2024, areas in the south of both countries witnessed floods that damaged some homes, led to the displacement of a large number of families in those areas, and disrupted electricity and other services, according to international media reports.
Water crisis in Arab countries
The importance of benefiting from flood rains is evident from the fact that water has become an important economic element over the past decades. Water is no longer just an important component in the agricultural sector, but also in the industrial sector, especially since many Arab countries are moving towards establishing water-intensive industries, such as iron, electronics, fertilizers, paper, glass, soft drinks, and others.
The Arab region is threatened by the danger of providing drinking water suitable for human use, andMany Arab countries fall below the extreme water poverty line, while others areThe Gulf region is compensating for its water shortage through desalination of seawater.
Therefore, any opportunity to obtain a renewable water source should be taken advantage of, whether through the usual rainy seasons, or the unusual ones, or through the heavy rains that reach the level of floods, which some Arab cities have witnessed at different times during the past years.
Water is classified as one of the most important determinants of development in the Arab region, due to its scarcity. According to the description of the Unified Arab Economic Report for the year 2023, the Arab region is considered one of the most water-scarce regions in the world.
Although the Arab region occupies 9% of the Earth’s land area and is inhabited by 5.6% of the world’s population, its share of the world’s annual renewable water is extremely scarce, as its share amounts to only 0.6% of renewable water.
The problem is clearly evident – according to the report – in that there are 8 Arab countries that are among the 10 poorest countries in the world in terms of the per capita share of renewable water, in which the per capita share is less than 500 m3 per year. These countries are (Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Yemen).
Old Arab interest
The issue of utilizing rainwater and floods is of scientific interest at the Arab level, whether within each country individually, or at the regional level, through the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development.
A study by the Saudi researcher Abdul Malik Al Sheikh in 2006 entitled “Rainwater and Flood Harvesting and its Importance for Water Resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” indicated that historians considered the Nabataean Arabs (500 BC) to be the first to excel in generalizing and developing rain harvesting techniques, and over ancient periods of time, rain harvesting technology flourished in various places in the Arab region, such as Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine.
Regarding the Saudi experience, the study indicates that Saudi Arabia receives an annual amount of rainfall estimated at about 130 m3, but the actual benefit from it does not exceed 10% of that rainfall.
Regarding the means used to benefit from rainwater and floods, the study proposes several means, including wells or ponds made of cement, reinforced plastic, or fiberglass. However, they have several disadvantages, most notably that they are not economically feasible compared to their cost.
In addition to this, there is the construction of dams and storing water behind them for use when needed, and storing water in the valleys. In addition, there is another method called “spreading water” by distributing it over the largest possible area, so that the earth absorbs it and it is preserved as groundwater.
Global experiences to benefit from floods
Cairo University’s study examined several global experiences to benefit from flood waters through planning and construction tools, including the following:
- Hong KongIt has started implementing its sponge city strategy to reduce the risks of flash floods, with the aim of absorbing part of the rainwater, storing it and reusing it when needed, and draining the other part naturally into the deep soil layers, which enhances the environmental function of the city and reduces the surface runoff of rainwater, thus reducing the risks of flash floods.
Floods can be used to compensate for part of the water shortage in the countries affected by them or to generate energy (Anatolia) - Deloth, USAIn order to enhance the infiltration of rainwater into the soil to benefit from the porous nature of the soil, a set of measures were adopted, including: plant channels, filtration channels, rain gardens, and porous paving materials.
In order to retain rainwater, underground storage facilities were implemented, as well as basins and green roofs at building levels.
- Seattle USAThe city adopted the idea of implementing diversion channels with the aim of getting rid of part of the rainwater and preserving the urban mass without exposing it to any damage. It implemented a pipe that transfers rainwater outside the urban mass towards the sea, thus enhancing the level of resistance to flash floods in the city.
Another set of measures was adopted, including rain gardens, plant channels, and porous paving materials, in addition to implementing underground storage facilities and using temporary storage for land uses. There was also a move to exploit private gardens to drain rainwater towards them.
When are floods a blessing?
When floods occur, they are classified as a disaster, especially if the infrastructure is not prepared to receive and deal with them, or if the geographic information systems did not anticipate them, or did not estimate their natural size.
However, in light of the problems the Arab region is suffering from related to water shortages and energy shortages, some are proposing the idea that floods could be an opportunity to compensate for this shortage, by relying on the methods mentioned previously.
However, this remains dependent on the available quantities of flood water being sufficient or allowing for the provision of an amount that can fill the gaps in agricultural irrigation or electricity generation.
The other issue is related to the cost-benefit principle. Often, the cost of the infrastructure required to benefit from floodwaters exceeds the positive returns from them.
However, preserving human and natural wealth, including land and animals, requires that financially capable countries make efforts to implement the necessary infrastructure to benefit from flood waters. If this financial solvency is not available, flood areas should be evacuated of residents and livestock before the floods arrive, which will reduce the expected losses.
