Tourists evacuated after floods lash Jordan's ancient city of Petra

Tourists have been evacuated from the ancient rock city of Petra after it was flooded as freak rainfall hit the archaeological site.

Footage shared on social media showed a river of water pouring into the entrance of Jordan's 2,000 year-old attraction, situated 150 miles south of Jerusalem, as panicked tourists attempted to flee. 

This came as the Petra authority had warned citizens to stay away from flood drains and valleys and not to risk leaving their homes on Monday during the period of rainfall, due to the rising water level.

It has not been confirmed if anyone was injured during the flood.

On Tuesday morning, the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority said it had reopened tourist routes at the UNESCO World Heritage site.

In a message shared on Facebook the head of the Petra Region Authority, Dr. Sulaiman Al-Farajat said: "Tourism movement is going on normally, routinely and systematically to ensure the safety of visitors and remove any obstacles.

"The authorities are currently working to rehabilitate the streets due to water drainage, ferries and areas affected by rains in all the gatherings of the Petra Brigade."

According to the authority, Petra recorded a record amount of rainfall during the atmospheric low.

This is not the first time the world heritage site has been battered by extreme weather.

In 2018, floodwaters rose to 13ft and swept away more than a dozen people, forcing 4,000 people to evacuate.

Before that, a previous fatal flash flood struck Petra in 1963 when 22 French tourists and a local guide were killed by rapidly rising waters.

In response, Jordan’s Department of Antiquities built a dam to keep water from entering the canyon leading to the Treasury.

Petra is a city carved out of the sandstone hills containing the burial chambers of the Nabateans, a tribe of rich traders whose civilisation flourished between 200 BC and 100 AD. 

In ancient times, Arab tribesmen had dug diversion tunnels to protect their low-lying trading post of Petra against desert flash floods.

In 2014, the alarm system was installed as added protection, with sirens set to go off when flood water rises above a certain level.

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