Jordanian king gives snowed-in citizens a helping hand
In attempt to show solidarity with people, Jordan's king took to streets to help citizens stranded in snow. See his highness roll up his sleeves in snow covered Jordanian capital
Wishing to set a personal example, King Abdullah II
of Jordan
left his palace and took to the streets to aid drivers stranded in the snow
which brought the Jordanian capital to a standstill Saturday.
Jordan's king helps stranded citizens in Amman
In images published by the kingdom, the king can be seen rolling up his sleeves and working together with common Jordanians to pushing free a car which got stuck in the snow.
Related stories:
- Thousands evacuated from flooded Gaza homes
- Storm leaves 35,000 households without power
- Israel transfers water pumps to Gaza due to flooding
"As usual, the Hashemites (the royal Jordanian house) are no different than their people, especially when times are hardest," the website wrote of their hands-on king.
King Abdullah II of Jordan lends helping hand in Amman
Much like Israel, since Wednesday Jordan has also been hit by a massive cold front and snow storm, which have deadlocked most of the kingdom – including the capital Amman.
Much as is the case in Israel, Jordanian officials have used military forces assist in rescue efforts – namely to open roadways which in some cases have been covered in more than a 1.5 meters of snow.
King Abdullah II also visited the country's emergency command center, run by the Interior Ministry. There he was updated by the prime minister and interior minster regarding the different efforts that are being undertaken to deal with the situation.
The Jordanian authorities have called on all their citizens to remain at home because of harsh whether conditions. Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour has announced that government offices and services will be shut down Sunday – baring those working to deal with the storm; and school has been out in the kingdom since Thursday and will not be renewed Sunday.
Among those most severely hit by the storm are the roughly 80,000 Syrian refugees currently living in camps in the kingdom. Halil Atma, from Sanmun in southern Syria, said "we have moved from one tragedy to another."
Despite a massive initial effort, an aid organization working with the refugees said that it has still not been able to evacuate all the refugees from flooded refugee camps. The organization also claims it has been unable to feed and cloth those evacuated.
- Receive Ynetnews updates
directly to your desktop
