Marib dam overflows for first unprecedented rains in decades

English - Sunday 02 August 2020 الساعة 09:15 am
Marib, Newsemen:

The Marib Dam has flooded in the past few hours for the first time since it was rebuilt 35 years ago due to the influx of rainwater and torrential rains in large quantities, amid warnings that the dam's water will reach an unprecedented level as the flow of floods continues, which pose a threat to the dam and residents nearby.

The flood of water was recorded from al-Rawdah, located in the Hadir Jan area, southeast of the dam, on Friday, until the water reached the outskirts of Wadi Obeida, without causing any casualties so far.


Marib province and its neighbouring provinces last week witnessed heavy rains described as unprecedented in decades, followed by torrential rains, with heavy rains expected to continue over the next few days.

According to an agricultural engineer, the Marib Dam is both converted and stored with safe water corridors if it flows into the dam in large quantities, as is the case today, in order to ease the pressure on the center of the dam's water barrier. 

It is estimated that the amount of water held by the dam will be 400 million cubic meters of the lake's maximum capacity of 660 million cubic meters, pointing out that this unprecedented amount of water despite the opening of the dam gate previously and raising the amount of water coming out of the drainage channels according to the irrigation program prepared by the agriculture office in the province.

He stressed that this is the first time that water has overflowed from this corridor since the dam was rebuilt at the expense of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, in 1986.