Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty met, on Wednesday, with El-Sayed Shalaby, Head of the Irrigation Department at the Ministry, to review preparations against torrential rains in various governorates. During the meeting, Abdel Aty stressed the necessity to continue following up on the readiness of all protection facilities against the dangers of torrential rains in all endangered governorates. The minister explained that the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation is implementing major projects in the field of protection from the dangers of torrential rains with the aim of protecting citizens, cities,bedouin villages, strategic installations, roads, towers, power lines and gas lines from the dangers of torrents and heavy rain. Additionally, the ministry is also working on harvesting rainwater and collecting it in artificial lakes and in front of protection dams for use of Bedouin communities in the surrounding areas. This could help to settle the people as a result of feeding groundwater wells to ensure the sustainability of the water source. Moreover, Abdel Aty reviewed the executive position of the current flood protection projects in the governorates of North and South Sinai, the Red Sea, and Matrouh. The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation has established the Flood Forecasting Center, which uses satellite technology and advanced numerical models to simulate the natural hydrological behavior of the river and forecast rain and floods, in addition to studying climate changes and their impact on Egypt.
