Weather conditions in Egypt improved on Friday afternoon as the stormy winds, thunder and lighting, and torrential rainfall that hit the country the day before began to abate. The bout of bad weather is expected to largely clear by Saturday. A number of vacuum trucks were deployed around Cairo and in other parts of the country on Friday to tackle the floods. Railway services, the three lines of Cairo's metro, and maritime navigation have been proceeding as normal since Friday morning, the transport ministry said. Train movement was partially suspended on Thursday night after a collision between two trains in Cairo. The first line of the metro had also been suspended due to the weather. According to the transport ministry, the Red Sea ports of Nuweiba, Safaga, Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Suez, and the ports in Alexandria governorate, remain closed. Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the accumulated rainwater has been drained from a number of archaeological sites, including the Pyramids of Giza and El-Muezz Street in Islamic Cairo. The council will follow up until the severe weather ends, he said. The governor of Alexandria, Mohamed El-Sherif, called upon governorate residents not to leave their homes on Friday unless absolutely necessary. The region has seen torrential rain, he noted. Prime Minister, Mustafa Madbouli, announced Friday that schools and universities will remain closed nationwide on Saturday. The government has shut down all schools and universities on Thursday and made the day a public holiday, in anticipation of the weather disruption.
