Three northern governorates suspend school Sunday ahead of bad weather

Ahram Online , Saturday 18 Dec 2021

The northern governorates of Matrouh, Beheira, and Alexandria announced suspending classes in school on Sunday due to bad weather forecast during the coming two days.

Alexandria
File: Alexandria in the aftermath of winter rain storm

Alexandria also suspended classes on Monday for all public and private schools as well as classes in Al-Azhar system, a statement by the governorate read.

Moderate to heavy rain is expected along the northern coast and Delta on Sunday and Monday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) said on Saturday.

This includes the governorates of Matrouh, Alexandria, Beheira, Kafr El-Sheikh and Damietta on both days as well as the governorates of Daqahliya and Port Said on Monday.

Dust storms are also likely to hit various parts of the country on Sunday, including parts of Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt, northern coast, cities of the Suez Canal, and northern Upper Egypt.

The sandstorms are expected to cause poor visibility and lower the temperature, the EMA said.

Alexandria Governor Mohamed El-Sherif also ordered a paid-day-off on Sunday and Monday for female employees who tend for a child under 12 years of age.

Employees in leadership positions and shift workers in Alexandria schools will report to work as usual, in accordance with the requirements set by heads of the education directorates.

The decision was made to preserve public safety and allow authorities to deal with the effects of the bad weather, the Alexandria governorate said.

Waves of bad weather and rainfall over the past month have forced many governorates to briefly close school to allow the removal of excess water from streets and protect students.

Bad weather may disturb navigation in the Mediterranean, causing waves to rise to 2-4 metres on Sunday and to 4-5 metres on Monday, the EMA expected.

Earlier this month, five-metre-high waves broke into streets in various areas of Alexandria governorate and flooded parts of the Engineers Syndicate Club overlooking the corniche.

A young woman was also injured as part of the corniche fence collapsed in the Louran neighbourhood due to the powerful winds and high sea waves.

Alexandria has been witnessing a series of annual rain storms (Nawa) since November with authorities raising the level of preparedness, sending vacuum trucks to remove water from streets, and cleaning storm drains.

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