Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Thursday that he understands the suffering of some Egyptians resulting from the heavy downpours in the country over the past two days. “I completely understand the suffering that was felt by some Egyptians as a result of the rains that fell in an unexpected and unusual way over the past two days,” the president said in a post on his official Facebook page. "I assure that the government, with all its institutions, will intensify its efforts to prevent the recurrence of such repercussions again." On Tuesday and Wednesday, parts of Cairo, mainly the southern and eastern suburbs, were inundated by heavy rainfall, which flooded roads, paralysed traffic and caused property damage. Many Egyptians have expressed frustration with the situation, sharing videos and photos online showing up to two feet of rain deluging apartments, garages and shutting down major roads. On social media, users complained about what they perceived as inaction by emergency departments and municipal officials in the first hours of the crisis. Some residents accused officials of failing to take necessary precautions to avoid the damage despite warnings days earlier by forecasters about the impending bad weather. Others blamed inadequate infrastructure and drainage systems. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries caused by the floods. On Wednesday, the government launched an emergency hotline to help people affected by the flooding. New Cairo municipal officials brought in vacuum trucks and equipment from neighboring governorates and cities to assist in removing the rainwater. Later that day, the housing ministry announced that almost 80 percent of the rainwater that flooded the streets of New Cairo, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, had been removed. The Egyptian cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) also said municipal workers removed water from neighborhoods on Cairo's southern outskirts. Over the past few years, Egypt has been hit with several bouts of torrential rain, which caused a number of deaths, power cuts and road accidents in several parts of the country. In November 2015, the governor of Alexandria resigned after officials failed to take adequate measures to deal with a wave of torrential rain which flooded the city, leaving five dead. In 2016, 26 people died in the governorates of South Sinai, Sohag and the Red Sea as a result of flooding after heavy rainfall.
