{"id":17121,"date":"2025-12-06T09:23:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T07:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=17121"},"modified":"2026-10-07T16:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:48:31","slug":"port-said-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/port-said-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Said\u2019s Flooded Streets Expose Gaps in Winter Preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"
At about 7:30pm on 12 November 2025, heavy rain began falling over Port Said. Within an hour, streets in parts of Port Fouad were submerged. Residents reported a power cut affecting areas including El-Herafeyeen, El-Maashat, the 11 Buildings estate and the university surroundings, alongside repeated interruptions to drinking-water supplies.<\/p>\n
Eman Younis, who lives in Port Fouad, recalls the electricity being cut from around 8:15pm until 1:30am\u2014approximately five hours and fifteen minutes. <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
She says local authorities had spent the preceding months digging up streets in preparation for winter, creating expectations of better drainage and new gullies.<\/p>\n
Instead, she describes water rising over car tyres, ground-floor homes flooding and residents struggling to reach work or school. In some affected areas, she says, standing water remained for three days.<\/p>\n
For Younis, the scenes recalled heavy rain in 2019 and raised questions about whether longstanding infrastructure problems had been addressed. She holds local officials responsible for failing to prepare adequately.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWater-pumping vehicles started working as soon as the crisis began, but there were not enough of them for the volume of rain,\u201d Younis tells Zawia3. \u201cAfter two days, residents went into the streets to help district workers remove the water.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
She says community volunteers, including Mina Adel through the \u201cVoice of Port Fouad\u201d group, helped organise the effort.<\/p>\n
For Mohamed El-Zeiny, a resident of the newer El-Fayrouz estate, the damage was personal and expensive. He says his car was submerged within an hour on the Wednesday evening, damaging its electronic control unit. He estimates that component alone would cost EGP 25,000 to replace, in addition to other repairs.<\/p>\n
El-Zeiny describes the social-housing estate\u2019s drainage as inadequate. He says streets remained flooded for several days and reports water entering some flats through ceiling lights and fan fittings, creating potential electrical hazards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car was below my home when the rain started. I did not expect so much water within an hour,\u201d he says. At the time he spoke to Zawia3, he said nearby streets were still flooded and pumping vehicles had not reached El-Fayrouz, even though they were operating in central areas of Port Said.<\/p>\nMohamed El-Zeiny\u2019s car submerged in rainwater.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
He says he had to dismantle the car to dry it after the interior filled with water. He fears another downpour could bring the same damage and asks whether the governorate will compensate residents for losses to cars, furniture and homes.<\/p>\n
Another Port Fouad resident, Salma Fahmy, describes rainfall of an intensity she had not previously experienced locally. Water entered homes and shops in several areas, leaving residents facing extensive losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city was not ready for this,\u201d she says. \u201cI asked the building caretaker to open a drain, but he said the heavy iron cover could not be opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
She recalls pools around apartment towers, the Sadat villas and Suez Canal Authority premises. Residents also reported sparks from some street-lighting poles during the rain, she says, adding to fears for pedestrians.<\/p>\n
Young volunteers brought pumps to help remove water in Port Fouad. Fahmy says the district head came the following day to supervise work after residents appealed for help. She calls for a clear winter plan that includes checking the drainage network, assessing its capacity and testing its readiness.<\/p>\nCars surrounded by floodwater in Port Said. Photo circulated on Facebook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Hany Tantawy, also from Port Fouad, says the rain on Wednesday and Thursday left unusually deep water in the streets. Flooding inside some apartment buildings made it difficult for people to reach their homes.<\/p>\n
Older housing was particularly badly affected, he says. Water entered basements and rose high inside some flats, damaging possessions. He recalls the district announcing that preparations were complete before the downpour, but says residents\u2019 experience contradicted those assurances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not just the streets. Shops suffered badly, and homes were flooded and their contents damaged,\u201d he tells Zawia3. He says residents had previously heard promises to improve drainage, including under former governor Adel El-Ghadban.<\/p>\n
Tantawy recalls pumping starting the following night and continuing for three or four days because of the volume of standing water. The Suez Canal Authority also sent vehicles and equipment to assist.<\/p>\n
He argues that pre-winter maintenance should include clearing drains and testing them by running water through the system. In his account, some recently resurfaced streets sloped towards building entrances, directing water into homes rather than away from them.<\/p>\n
Residents\u2019 experiences were not identical. Ziad Baghdady, who lives in the Protex area of El-Dawahy district, says the local response there was quick. Authorities pumped out water and dried the main street he had photographed by the following day.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he says he saw broken-down cars elsewhere and believes many streets, particularly in Port Fouad, were not equipped to handle the rainfall. In his view, inadequate capacity or maintenance remained a recurring problem.<\/p>\n
The unstable weather beginning on 12 November lasted approximately 72 hours, with intermittent heavy rain affecting streets in El-Arab, El-Sharq and Port Fouad. Officials attributed flooding to rainfall exceeding the operating capacity of sewer networks and pumping stations, including the 23 July and Port Fouad stations. They also said power interruptions had disrupted some stations.<\/p>\n
![\"Rain](\"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/port-said-outage-en.png\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Mohamed](\"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\u0635\u0648\u0631\u0629-\u062a\u0638\u0647\u0631-\u063a\u0631\u0642-\u0627\u0644\u0633\u064a\u0627\u0631\u0629-\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0645\u0644\u0648\u0643\u0629-\u0644\u0644\u0645\u0648\u0627\u0637\u0646-\u0645\u062d\u0645\u062f-\u0627\u0644\u0632\u064a\u0646\u064a-\u0648\u0633\u0637-\u0645\u064a\u0627\u0647-\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0645\u0637\u0627\u0631-scaled.png\")
![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\u063a\u0631\u0642-\u0628\u0639\u0636-\u0633\u064a\u0627\u0631\u0627\u062a-\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u0627\u0637\u0646\u064a\u0646-\u0648\u0633\u0637-\u0645\u064a\u0627\u0647-\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0645\u0637\u0627\u0631-\u0641\u064a-\u0628\u0648\u0631\u0633\u0639\u064a\u062f-\u0641\u064a\u0633\u0628\u0648\u0643-scaled.png\")