Search launched for missing child, 13, in Jordan flash floods

Rainfall over 24 hours raises levels of water in dams across the country by 22 per cent

Petra was hit by heavy flooding in November 2018. AFP

A man has died in Jordan after his car was swept away by flash floods in Jordan.

Authorities have said a child is also reported missing following heavy rain and flooding in southern and eastern parts of the country.

Jordan's state television reported that a man, believed to be in his 30s, was driving on Sunday evening in Al Shamiyah in the north-east of Aqaba, when his car was swept away.

A 13-year-old child went missing on Monday following similar weather in the north of Jordan's second city, Zarqa. Civil Defence officers are “combing the area looking for the child,” state TV said.

Omar, an unemployed resident of Zarqa, said that some cars were swept off the roads after brief but heavy rain in the morning.

“The hail broke some cars' windows,” he said.

Jordan, one of the most arid countries in the world, sometimes experiences flash flooding in the spring. Poor infrastructure often results in rapid accumulation of water in the streets. The rain came after weeks of heavy dust and dry conditions across much of the kingdom.

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation said the rainfall over 24 hours had raised the levels of water in dams across the country by 22 per cent, but that they remain only 47 per cent full.

The Ministry of Public Works said it reopened several roads in the south of Jordan, which had been closed overnight.

The ministry advised people travelling on motorways in the south to “take care and caution because of impaired visibility caused by heavy rain in some areas”.

Residents said the weather there had mostly cleared.

Southern Jordan is home to the Roman city of Petra and the desert valley of Wadi Rum, among the country's most visited attractions.

International travel to Jordan has increased over the past decade, as upheaval swept through Syria and Lebanon, the other attractions in the Levant.

The majority of visitors are interested in hiking in Wadi Rum or visiting the Nabataean ruins of Petra, a major trading centre before it was overrun by the Romans.

Kamel, a guide in Wadi Rum, told The National that despite heavy rain in the morning, a significant numbers of tourists visited the site in the morning.

“The rain stopped quickly,” he said.

Government data shows that the number of foreign visitors to Petra quadrupled in the past year to 670,000.