Storm weather in Jordan: After evacuation - Rock city Petra open again

As if nothing had happened: In the pictures of the live webcam, which show the bustle at the visitor center of the famous rock city on Sunday afternoon, one sees tourists in shorts and T-shirts. The sun is shining. There is no huge crowd at the entrance, but there is a lot going on at one of the major attractions in the Middle East. An employee of the Mövenpick Hotel on site also confirms to SPIEGEL in a telephone call: "Today is another normal day for us." The Rock City is open. "

Visit Petra today; Everything is back to normal and the services are available as usual. # Petra #Jordan pic.twitter.com/fSvWTRaHax

After torrential rains, Jordanian security forces had to evacuate the World Heritage site. More than 3,500 tourists had to leave the well-known archaeological site on Friday for flooding. It was preceded by heavy rains that killed at least 12 people in the Arab country, according to local media.

Images of visitors in Petra showed how bodies of water moved through the rock formations of the archaeological site. The tourists came to safety on higher rocks before the torrent. All tours to the area have been temporarily suspended.

Flash flooding in Petra pic.twitter.com/X8K5syKE3k

Elsewhere in Jordan, the civil defense search continues for missing persons in the affected floodplains. The military deployed helicopters. Meanwhile, the government of the kingdom promised to invest more in the infrastructure of the affected floodplains.

Already in the week before at least 21 people died in floods. Two ministers resigned. Heavy storms had last hit in large parts of the Arab world. It also rained unusually high in the Arabian Peninsula, including Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.