Three Egyptians died in flooding in the southern Sinai Desert Wednesday, bringing the toll for three days of heavy rains to 10, said a health official. Locals angry that the government was downplaying the magnitude of their losses clashed with security forces in South Sinai and wounded a senior police officer and two of his men, said Mohammed Fayez, the head of the emergency medical unit in the province, according to the AP.
The locals burnt car tires, blocked a main road and set fire to a truck, claiming that the government was underreporting their losses and not sending sufficient aid.
Heavy wind and rains swept through parts of Egypt, the Gaza Strip, Israel and Jordan on Monday, sweeping away homes, knocking out power lines and cutting roads. One motorist died in Israel and 10 died in Egypt, including a British tourist. Seven people were wounded in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt's state news agency said President Hosni Mubarak, who has been touring the stricken areas in Aswan, ordered $4,500 in compensation for each family that lost its home, and lesser amounts for those just damaged. Over 400 mud brick homes were damaged in Aswan and another 250 in Sinai, the agency reported.
