Dubai Flooded
There was a lot of turmoil in the United Arab Emirates since it rained more than it had in 75 years. This caused problems in some areas because more than 250 mm (about 10 inches) of rain poured in less than 24 hours. The government’s communications office published this information on Wednesday.
The rain created flooding on the streets, downed palm trees, and damaged structures. This has never happened before in the Middle Eastern country, which began keeping records in 1949. Flights were canceled in Dubai, a popular tourist destination, and traffic stopped moving. Schools were also closed.
The airport’s meteorological station reported 100 mm (almost 4 inches) of rain in just 12 hours on Tuesday. According to UN data, this is the average amount of rain that Dubai receives in a year.
The rain came down quite hard and rapidly. Some drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles because the water rose too high and the roads became like rivers.
Big storms like this are becoming more common as the Earth’s atmosphere warms due to human activity. Warmer air can store more water, which is then released as heavy rain.
The poor weather was caused by a large storm moving across the Arabian Peninsula and over the Gulf of Oman. The same storm also dumped a lot of rain in Oman and the southeast of Iran.
According to Oman’s emergency management committee, at least 18 persons were killed as a result of flooding caused by heavy rains. Students were among those affected, according to Oman News.
A 70-year-old man died in the UAE’s Ras Al-Khaimah when his automobile was washed away by a flood, according to a police statement released on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the rain proceeded eastward and hit regions of southern Iran and Pakistan. These areas typically receive little rain during this time of year. Chabahar, a city in southern Iran, received 130 mm of rain.
On Wednesday, people attempting to go to the city of Dubai by car were unable to do so due to a blocked highway.
“It was scary because there was nowhere to go,” said Sofie, a Dubai resident. Sofie had to stay outside her house for over 12 hours, spending some of that time sleeping in her car because the roads surrounding her were flooded.
Some taxi drivers refused to travel any further due to the blocked roads, so people were stopped on Dubai’s major route.
People had to walk through large puddles on the road to find alternative routes. Some came from other nations to attend the World Blockchain Summit, a cryptocurrency conference scheduled to take place early next week.
Social media users shared videos of Dubai International Airport’s runways being swamped with water. The airport is the world’s second busiest. Big airplanes resembled boats moving through water. The waves created by the planes sprayed water everywhere.
Even after the storm had gone, the airport still experiencing difficulty. The floods caused road closures, and numerous aircraft, including Emirates, experienced delays. Another airline, Flydubai, has canceled all flights till 10 a.m. Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, Dubai International Airport advised passengers not to come to the airport unless absolutely necessary because planes were still being delayed and redirected.
Emirates suspended passenger check-in for flights departing Dubai from 8 a.m. on Wednesday to midnight on Thursday due to weather and traffic issues.
Last year, 134 million people traveled through UAE airports, with 87 million passing through Dubai International Airport alone. The United Arab Emirates is home to around 10 million people and serves as a hub for five airlines.
Videos on social media showed items falling from balconies. The flood washed away restaurant furnishings in the Dubai Marina, which is surrounded by big skyscrapers and stores.
Local news photos showed traffic stalled on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, which has 16 lanes. Expensive cars were nearly totally submerged in the Business Bay district, which includes homes, businesses, and shops. A metro station in Dubai was flooded, forcing commuters to walk through water up to their ankles.
Delivery services were suspended, and many Dubai residents were unable to leave their homes due to flooding. Some individuals were rowing canoes outside their homes, while a video on social media showed people wakeboarding on a flooded street in a neighborhood.
Madiha Khawaja, who was visiting Dubai from London with her family, claimed she felt “helpless” as she tried to calm her children throughout the turmoil.
The rain damaged elevators in several of Dubai’s highest buildings. Khawaja reported that it took her 45 minutes to walk up to her apartment on the 27th floor with her young children.
“It was very hard,” she remarked. “When we got to our apartment, the taps didn’t work, there was no drinking water, the phones didn’t work, and the internet didn’t work.”
“The kids were hungry, and as a mother, I was getting very anxious and upset,” she was quoted as saying by CNN.
An official from the UAE’s weather center informed a local newspaper that the rain was not caused by cloud seeding. Cloud seeding is the process of inserting substances into clouds to increase the likelihood of rain. CNN attempted to contact the weather center for more information.
Cloud seeding is intended to increase rainfall in areas that do not receive much rain. The UAE has been cloud seeding since the 1990s, and they have increased their efforts in recent years.
Dubai’s climate is typically hot and dry due to its location in the Persian Gulf region. As a result, it rarely rains, and the city’s buildings and roadways are not designed to withstand large storms.
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