Rains lash Qatar areas

By Ramesh Mathew

Municipal workers clearing a waterlogged street in Doha. PICTURES: Shemeer Rashid

Doha and the country’s northern areas, particularly Ruweis, received good rains over the past two days. In Al Khor and its neighbourhood, rains continued until 2 in the afternoon yesterday. Work at a number of sites in the region was reportedly affected.
Winds of between 8 and 18 knots will blow until this afternoon. Offshore areas could experience up to 22 knots, a weather official said.
The official attributed prevailing cold conditions to the strengthening of the northwesterly winds across the peninsula. He said the coming days would see strong winds blowing across the country’s coast, with the sky remaining partly cloudy. However, rains will be scattered and could be expected only from the middle of Friday, with a chance of continuing for one more day.
High tides are expected to hit 8ft at times, said the Met official.
Ruweis experienced rains until 9 in the morning yesterday. The visibility in the entire northern region was considerably reduced during day time and the situation continued until the evening. Even several hours after the rains ended, Ruweis and surroundings were still to come back to normal, according to some residents.
Fishermen have been warned not to venture out for duties in Wakrah, Ruweis and Al Khor. Some are reportedly stranded at Halul islands as strong winds are lashing the offshore areas.
Inquiries made with some members of the fishing community in Ruweis found that most of the fishermen were likely to remain onshore  for at least 3-4 days more. A senior fisherman in Ruweis, identified as Francis Selvaraj, said strong winds lashing the northern areas could force the community members out of duties for at least the 72 hours starting from the afternoon yesterday. "None of us expected to remain indoors for such a long duration at this time of the year,” he said.