RIYADH
\nAt least two people died on Thursday as heavy rains hit western Saudi Arabia, including the coastal city of Jeddah, delaying flights and forcing schools to close, officials said.
\n\u201cTwo deaths have been recorded so far, and we call on everyone not to go out unless necessary,\u201d the Mecca regional government said on its Twitter page.
\nThe Mecca region includes Jeddah, the kingdom\u2019s second-largest city of roughly four million people, and Mecca city, the holiest city in Islam where millions perform the hajj and umrah pilgrimages each year.
\nThe road connecting the two, which many pilgrims use to reach Mecca, was closed on Thursday once the rains began, state media reported, although it was later reopened, authorities said.
\nThe state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel showed footage of worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca circling the Kaaba (the cubic structure that is the focal point of Islam) under a heavy downpour.
\nIn Jeddah, images posted to social media showed standing water snarling traffic and partially submerging some vehicles.
\nThe city\u2019s King Abdulaziz International Airport said that \u201cdue to weather conditions, the departure of some flights has been delayed\u201d and urged passengers to contact carriers for up-to-date schedules.
\nThe official Saudi Press Agency reported before dawn that schools in the city would temporarily be closed as rains were forecast to continue throughout the day.
\nSchools were also closed in the nearby towns of Rabigh and Khulais \u201cto preserve the safety of male and female students\u201d, SPA said.
\nThe kingdom is in the middle of final exams, yet schools had already been closed nationwide on Wednesday after King Salman declared a holiday following Saudi Arabia\u2019s shock defeat of Argentina in the World Cup.
\nWinter rainstorms and flooding occur almost every year in Jeddah, where residents have long decried poor infrastructure.
\nFloods killed 123 people in the city in 2009 and 10 more two years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH At least two people died on Thursday as heavy rains hit western Saudi Arabia, including the coastal city of Jeddah, delaying flights and forcing schools to close, officials said. \u201cTwo deaths have been recorded so far, and we call on everyone not to go out unless necessary,\u201d the Mecca regional government said on its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-297500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n