In the absence of urban planning, the floodwaters of the town of Ibb turn into death traps

Yemen

Yamanat – Special

Anas Al-Qubati

Every rainy season, the tragic scene is renewed in the city of Ibb, in central Yemen, where floodwaters turn into death traps that cost civilians their lives, revealing the fragility of the city’s infrastructure, in the face of the absence of urban planning and the absence of serious solutions from local authorities.

On Friday, July 18, 2025, torrential rains swept away the car of a Yemeni expatriate named Muhammad Al-Sayyadi, while he was crossing with his family in the center of the city, resulting in the death of the father, his wife and one child, while a second child was transferred to intensive care. An incident which brought to the forefront long-asked questions: how long will the town of Ibb remain hostage to floods? Who is responsible for the lack of urban protection?

Urban geography: a growing danger

The city of Ibb extended below the heights that surrounded it on three sides, and its districts were spread over moderate and steep slopes, and between narrow valleys and plains, which made it vulnerable to the dangers of floods.
Seasonal torrential streams flow through the town of Ibb, the most important of which are: Al-Mishna Stream (in the center), Wadi Maitam (in the south), and Wadi Al-Dhahar (in the northeastern end).
Although this location gives the city a special atmosphere, it puts it in danger in the absence of good urban management.

Urban expansion without vision

Over the past decade, Ibb town has experienced haphazard urban expansion due to internal migration and population growth, as housing, markets and even public facilities have been built along or on part of the flood channels, in light of the urban fragility the town experiences, represented by the absence of modern drainage networks and the absence of an urban hazard map to identify danger zones, which has led to every rainy season turning into a disaster.

Climate change has made the situation worse

Due to climate change, Ibb town has, over the past three years, experienced sudden heavy rainfall, as well as an increase in the amount of precipitation, which has resulted in increased surface runoff that exceeds the capacity of unqualified sewers.
According to circulating climate data, the average annual rainfall in Ibb exceeds 1,000 mm, which is a significant amount that cannot be absorbed by the current drains, especially since they are blocked due to neglect or urban encroachment.

Manifestations of institutional weakness

Therefore, the problem is not nature, but the lack of effective urban planning, and one of the most important manifestations of this deficiency is: The absence of a project to deal with the risks of flooding, andThe lack of planning control, which contributed to the spread of haphazard construction and encroachment on plans, reflecting administrative and urban planning corruption, andLack of modern maps of urban risks, andThe absence of updated hydrological studies, andThe absence of an early warning system also warning citizens of the arrival of floods. Lack of risk policing preventing vehicles from crossing into high-risk areas.

Recommendations

To deal with recurring threats, it is necessary to develop a precise urban map of flood channels and secure construction sites, to update the urban plan for the next five years taking into account in particular geomorphological and climatic risks, to modernize flood drainage networks, to treat affected people and to prevent construction on the banks of flood channels.

It is also necessary to activate local risk management with emergency and rapid response plans, include climate planning in the governorate’s infrastructure policies and work towards the creation of a specialized department to deal with flood-related disasters.

conclusion

What happens in the town of Ibb every rainy season confirms the fragility of urban planning and the absence of a planning control role, and reveals a sterile administrative mentality incapable of proposing solutions and inventing treatments, because floods are not the disaster in itself, but rather the disaster lies in the continued absence of planning, official indifference and chronic neglect of risks that can be predicted and avoided.

Yemen