Cairo [Egypt], December 29: Heavy rains have lashed parts of the Arab region in the past few days, causing flash floods and rare showers of hail in some areas.
In Jordan, flash floods resulting from torrential rains prompted evacuations of hundreds of foreign tourists from the ancient city of Petra, Jordanian media reported.
"The amount of rain that fell in the city was too much and resulted in flash floods," head of the Petra Territory Authority, Sulaiman al-Farjat, said, according to the Jordanian newspaper Addustour.
No casualties were reported. Rare showers of hail were reported in Kuwait after the oil-rich Gulf country was lashed by heavy rains on Tuesday.
Online footage showed jubilant persons in some parts of the country frolicking with the hail.
Rains on Wednesday prompted the closure of schools in Muscat, the capital of Oman, another Gulf country that has been hit by rainfall bringing traffic to a standstill in some parts.
Last week, cars were seen in online videos being swept away by floods resulting from heavy rains in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, home to Islam's holiest site. Authorities said there were no casualties.
Source: Qatar Tribune