Written by Rima Youssef
Translated by Rabab Housseiny
NNA - Even Noah would not have managed to lead his Arch across Beirut, with the streaming water floods engulfing rivers and the coastline highway stretching from the North till the South. Indeed, this is a cloudburst coming from Russia, which has just turned into a blizzard, battering Lebanon. Alas, only catastrophes come to us from abroad!
The storm has gone way beyond expectations, with Lebanon having become a huge puddle, albeit the state has mobilized well.
But whom to blame! Is it the Mother Nature? Is it the state? Or is it the curse of 2013? Could it be the Russians? Or is it maybe the foretellers?
With too many reasons in a row, the result still remains as is: waters across the streets and inside houses, and mud heavily clustering over cars and vehicles, only saddling citizens with extra misery.
The National News Agency applied itself to skimming through the why and wherefore this very blessing has become such a pest!
Director of the Operations unit at the Civil Defense, George Abu Moussa, told the NNA that the Civil Defense is in control of the situation on the ground since Sunday morning and nationwide, where many citizens were rescued.
"Yet the task is so difficult that we cannot crack all the problems which citizens are suffering. However, we managed to rescue too many citizens," he said.
He indicated that most of the damages were material, stressing the lack of protection and prevention among citizens is to rather be blamed.
For his part, Head of the ISF Public Relations Department, Lieutenant Joseph Mousallem, told the NNA that security forces were fully bracing for keeping tabs on roads and citizens' safety.
He recalled that they increased vigilance up to 90% upon the instruction of Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and ISF Chief General Ashraf Rifi earlier this week.
Mousallem called upon citizens to provide themselves with necessary food and medications, and to make sure stoves do not leak gas.
He noted that ISF personnel deployed in the coast and the mountain range as well as on most of the roads. "Yet the most important is that citizens protect themselves and do not risk their life of the life of others," he said.
Besides, Director of the Operations Unit at the Lebanese Red Cross, George Kettaneh, said Red Cross personnel had been on the alert since last Saturday.
He maintained that coordination between the Civil Defense and ISF was still underway.
On the casualties until this morning, Kettaneh noted 61 were injured in car accidents, 51 were among emergent cases, 63 were harmed in miscellaneous missions, 16 cardio cases were reported, and 8 encountered infractions.
Head of the Maintenance Department at the Public Works and Transportation Ministry, Adib Hadrouj, underscored that the Ministry was not sparing any effort nationwide. He pointed out that rainfalls exceeded all expectations. "Water flocked into drains and rivers, reaching a very high level, hence flooding the streets," he explained.
On the possibility to modernize drains, since they are designed to contain moderate precipitations, Dahrouj said such a step would be a total waste of money.
In turn, Wissam Abi Khashfa from the Meteorology Department said the current storm would subside by Thursday afternoon.
There would be freezing cold and ice formation over heights on Friday and Saturday, he warned.
He continued that rains would congeal tomorrow especially in the North.
"We have to thank all those who assumed their duty. We also call citizens to abide by the safety instructions," he concluded.
