Amira Fouad witnessed Alexandria being pounded by last week's storm A sandstorm, strong winds and heavy rain swept Egypt earlier this week, closing several ports and disrupting traffic in the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal was hit by poor visibility and winds of up to 40 knots an hour. The cold weather forced many people to stay indoors while strong winds caused the falling of lamp posts and electricity cables. Alexandria bore the brunt of the bad weather. For 48 hours the city was lashed by gale force winds and heavy rain, damaging dozens of buildings and forcing the closure of Egypt's largest ports, Abu Ghazi and Dekheila. The storm ended a prolonged period of unseasonably hot weather. In Alexandria, winds reached 100 km/h, causing waves of up to 10 metres that flooded parts of the coastal city. Weather conditions caused the collapse of four buildings and seriously damaged 28, according to the official Egyptian Middle East News Agency. The death toll from the storms now exceeds 40, and more than 100 people have been reported injured. In Alexandria's Al-Hadara district a four-storey textile factory collapsed, killing more than 20 people and leaving many others buried beneath the rubble. Trees and traffic lights were overturned by the wind along the Corniche and elsewhere in the city. Streets were swamped by seawater, and hundreds of cars abandoned. Electricity supplies were disrupted, and breakwaters at both Sidi Bishr and Miami beaches were badly damaged. Flooding meant the Corniche was all but closed to traffic on Sunday, leading to gridlock in the rest of the city that lasted for eight hours. "The Weather Forecast Agency warned us two days in advance that a heavy storm was likely but we had no inkling it would be so ferocious," says Salah Abdel-Wahab, head of Alexandria's Traffic Agency. "Many cars were caught in the heavy rain and buses stalled in the flood water." More than 20 people were killed and 40 injured in road accidents blamed on poor visibility. The Italian News Agency Ansa reported that a container ship bound for Italy was stranded off Marsa Matrouh after its engines failed. The crew of 21, and cargo of toxic paints and resins, is still awaiting rescue. The weather also forced the closure of Alexandria's two airports, Borg Al-Arab and Al-Nozha. Seafront clubs, restaurants and cafés were deluged with sea water, leaving owners and employees alike counting their losses. Photos and videos of the damage caused by the storm have been widely circulated on Youtube and Facebook.
