Flash floods force evacuations from Jordan’s iconic Petra
An estimated 1,700 visitors were evacuated from Jordan’s iconic archeological site Petra on Monday following floods that covered the ancient archeological site according to the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA).
Petra is located about 30km northwest of Ma’an city. According to Amman net, Ma’an Governorate (south of Amman) recorded the highest amount of precipitation as of Tuesday morning, and it amounted to 66 mm. Footage on social media has gone viral showing water washing into the entrance of Petra’s rock temple, and a bus tipped over and being washed up by torrential rainwater.
هنا #البتراء#امطار #الأردن #امطار #جنوب_الاردن
ما شاء الله الكريم
اللهم اجعله صيّباً نافعاً
الله سقيا رحمة لا سقيا عذاب pic.twitter.com/IUTL76SfC3— علي البريكات النعيمي (@abrikat2) December 26, 2022
Raed Khattab, Director of the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) expected more rain in the coming days, Jordanian media, reported on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Petra was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, a “Rose City” that has been standing for 2,000 years. It was carved by the Nabateans, Arab Bedouin tribe, in the second century A.D. directly into a pink-red sandstone cliff and is home to their burial chambers. In 2007 it was announced as one of the new seven wonders of the world confirming its historic lineage and beautiful architecture.
The city was a thriving trading post for the tribe which was attacked by the Greek Empire in 312 B.C. the first time the city of Petra was ever mentioned in history. The wealth amassed by the tribe was always a point of envy to other empires. The natural landscape of the terrain and its mountains served as a natural wall to fend off attacks nevertheless the city fell to both the Roman Empire and later the Byzantines who eventually controlled the region.
The city was unknown and abandoned until the 1800s when a Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt discovered in ruins.
Know more: The area has always been prone to flooding. The founder tribe had already faced this issue and had built conduits and dams to effectively control the water supply into the city and reside there.
In recent years, Petra has also faced other floods; this is not the first time visitors are evacuated due to heavy rains. In 2018, 4,000 people were evacuated and 13 people lost their lives. In 1963, 23 people were killed. Located in a desert of canyons and mountains, Jordan’s Department of Antiquities decided in 2014 to build a dam to keep the water from amassing and entering the alley that leads into the city. An alarm system was built that would go off when the water would reach a certain level.
There was no immediate information available on damages to the structure from the current flooding.