JEDDAH: The General Directorate of Civil Defense in the Riyadh region called on the public to be careful and to take precautionary measures after moderate to heavy rainfall was predicted in the region, starting from Saturday. The directorate urged people in the region not to go out in heavy rainfall unless necessary, to take extra care whilst driving in the rain, and to stay out of flood water. Civil Defense teams in Tabuk rescued 49 people stranded in valleys after heavy rains caused flooding on Thursday. With the help of the King Faisal Air Base, 41 people were rescued in Al-Saro, Um-Barira and Shaqiri valleys in Tabuk and eight others were rescued in the Affal valley in Bidaa. One person died in Bidaa as a result of the floods. “Thanks to the readiness of the team in terms of plans, rapid response and deployment in areas affected by floods, the Civil Defense was able to successfully undertake the rescue operations,” said Maj. Abdul Aziz Al-Shammari, a Civil Defense spokesman in Tabuk.