Don’t cross flooded wadis, warns Royal Oman Police

Energy Sunday 23/June/2019 20:28 PM
By: Times News Service
Don’t cross flooded wadis, warns Royal Oman Police

Muscat: Despite repeated warnings by the authorities, people are still risking their lives and those of others by crossing wadis.
Medium to heavy rain has been reported in many parts of Oman leading to the overflowing of valleys.
A video doing the rounds on social media shows an Omani man welcoming the flooding Wadi Al Sahtan in Wilayat Al Rustaq.
Many people reacted to the video as a new way to welcome the wadi despite the risk that the man faced, and others said that the timing of the man’s movements showed his experience and knowledge of the flooding.
Royal Oman Police (ROP) has warned several times how dangerous it can be to venture across flooding gullies.
A spokesperson at the ROP said: “Crossing wadis is punishable by law and ROP along with other authorities will not hesitate to punish anyone who violates that.”
He added: “Article 49 of the Traffic Law stipulates that any person who ‘intentionally crosses the valleys in such a way as to endanger his life or the life of passengers with him or others,’ shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months and a fine not exceeding OMR 500.”
He explained that despite the deployment of patrols and rescue teams in areas close to wadis by ROP and Public Authority for Civil and Ambulance, many still repeatedly cross and seem unaware of the dangers of wadi drifting.” Valleys flooded in different Wilayats as a result of weekend rainfall in the north part of the country.
According to the Public Authority of Civil Aviation (PACA), more rain is expected in the northern part of the Sultanate.
PACA said in a statement online: “Mainly clear skies over the rest of the Sultanate with chances of convective clouds development and isolated rain, occasionally thundershowers, over Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during the afternoon.”