The United Arab Emirates experienced chaos following the highest rainfall in 75 years, with some locations receiving more than 250 mm (about 10 inches) of precipitation in less than 24 hours, according to a statement released by the state’s media office on Wednesday.
The country in the Middle East has never experienced downpour like this, which uprooted palm palms, destroyed building facades, and inundated streets since 1949. Schools shuttered, transportation stopped, and flights were halted in Dubai, a well-liked vacation destination.
Based on weather readings at the airport, Tuesday’s rainfall of one hundred millimeters (about 4 inches) was over four times the amount of rain that Dubai typically receives in a year, according to United Nations data.
Some drivers were forced to get out of their cars as the floodwaters surged and the roadways became rivers due to the heavy and rapid rain.
heavy downpour These kinds of things are happening more frequently as a result of climate change brought on by human activity. More moisture can be absorbed by a warmer environment like a towel, and this moisture can later be released as torrential rain.
The weather was linked to a larger storm system that was moving across the Gulf of Oman and over the Arabian Peninsula. Southeast Iran and neighboring Oman are also experiencing exceptionally rainy weather due to this same cyclone.
As per the National Committee for Emergency Management of Oman, flash floods caused by intense rain resulted in the deaths of at least eighteen people. The state news agency of Oman said that students were among the casualties.
On Wednesday, the rains moved further east, affecting areas of southern Iran and Pakistan that receive little precipitation at this time of year. 130 mm of rain fell in the Sistan and Baluchestan region, which includes the southernmost city of Iran, Chabahar.
On Wednesday, a traffic jam occurred on a main highway in Dubai, preventing people from driving into the city center. Due to the clogged roadways, some taxi drivers refused to carry the commuters any further, leaving them stranded on Dubai’s main thoroughfare.
A portion of those stranded had traveled to Dubai from overseas to attend the World Blockchain Summit, a cryptocurrency conference that was set to take place early next week.
Operations at the airport were interrupted.
Intriguing footage saw the tarmac of Dubai International Airport, which was just named the second busiest airport in the world, submerged as large planes tried to fly above flooding. Waves surged over the deep water, and large jets blasted water in their wake, making them appear more like boats flying through the inundated airport.
Even after the storm passed, access routes remained blocked by flooding, causing disruptions to airport operations into Wednesday.
Several airlines, including Emirates, reported delays in their flights. Flydubai, a low-cost airline, canceled all of its flights on Wednesday until 10 a.m. local time.
Flights continue to be delayed and diverted, according to a Wednesday morning advisory from Dubai International, which also recommended travelers “NOT to come to the airport, unless absolutely necessary.”
Airline check-in for travelers leaving Dubai was halted by Emirates on Wednesday from 8 a.m. local time until midnight on Thursday because of “operational challenges caused by bad weather and road conditions.”
The UAE’s airports handled about 134 million passengers last year, with 87 million of those flights passing through Dubai International Airport alone. There are almost ten million people living in the UAE. Five airlines use the UAE as a hub.
Social media users posted a video of furniture falling off balconies. One might observe furniture from surrounding restaurants being carried away by strong currents at the Dubai Marina, an artificial canal surrounded by skyscrapers and shopping establishments.
Local media outlets featured pictures of traffic jams on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, a 16-lane roadway. In the Business Bay neighborhood, which is home to apartment buildings, businesses, and retail establishments, luxury cars were nearly completely drowned. Ankle-deep water forced commuters to trek through a flooded Dubai Metro station.
After a period of intense rain on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates, people wade through a street that has inundated beneath a bridge.
After a period of intense rain on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates, people wade through a street that has inundated beneath a bridge.
Many people of Dubai were unable to leave their houses owing to wet streets that were impassable for automobiles and pedestrians, and delivery services ceased to operate. A viral video on social media featured locals wake boarding on a flooded residential street, while several homeowners were observed rowing boats outside their homes.
Additional social media videos showed water rushing into a large mall and flooding homes’ ground floors.
Rumors that the pandemonium was man-made were dispelled when local daily The National quoted an official at the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology as stating that cloud seeding was not the source of the rain.
The technique, which involves “seeding” existing clouds with materials that eventually aid in the clouds’ ability to cause rain, is intended to increase rainfall in arid or semi-arid regions. Since the 1990s, and especially in the last few years, the UAE has been regularly cloud-seeding.
Dubai experiences hot, dry weather, much like the rest of the Persian Gulf region. Because of this, the city experiences few periods of rainfall, and its infrastructure frequently cannot withstand severe weather.
