Africa News of Friday, 13 March 2020

Source: english.ahram.org.eg

Unstable weather to continue in Egypt on Friday

Cars drive along a flooded motorway in the New Cairo suburb of the Egyptian capital Cars drive along a flooded motorway in the New Cairo suburb of the Egyptian capital

The wave of extremely unstable weather that hit Egypt on Thursday will continue on Friday, with a decline in temperature and heavier winds, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority announced.

Weather conditions will improve starting Saturday afternoon in most of Egypt with the exception of coastal areas and Sinai.

Five people were killed in Egypt on Thursday as the country was hit with heavy rains and thunderstorms.

Several highways were closed, ttwo major Mediterranean ports of Alexandria and Dekheila were closed, metro line 1 was partially suspended and train movement was halted following the collision of two trains in Cairo, which resulted in the injury of 13 people.

Several parts of the country suffered from power and water outages.

The Cairo water supply company has announced that the flow of water to homes will be reduced on Friday to allow for the sewage systems to handle the rainwater. Egypt is currently experiencing unprecedentedly heavy rainfall that far exceeds the capacity of its sewage systems.

The Egyptian government gave Thursday day off to employees and workers in the private and public sectors, as well as closed schools and universities.

The cabinet has asked citizens to remain home except in case of emergencies to reduce traffic and allow for the free movement of emergency workers and vacuum trucks.