Dubai must clean up massively after the flood

Two days after a record storm dumped a year’s worth of rain in one day, Dubai, a desert metropolis proud of its contemporary shine, was confronted with the daunting chore of cleaning its waterlogged roadways and drying out flooded houses on Thursday. Major transport hub Dubai International Airport was having trouble getting through a backlog of planes, and several roads remained waterlogged after Tuesday’s torrential downpour.

The United Arab Emirates saw the most rainfall in the 75 years that records have been maintained. They did great damage and brought much of the nation to a stop.

Numerous people reported having leaks in their houses, while social media users shared videos of water dripping from rooftops in malls.

Even after public transit services were restored, traffic in Dubai remained backed up. Heavy traffic was created by road closures, diversions, and partly inundated roads; some drivers attempted to escape flooded sections by driving into oncoming traffic. —Reuters

The primary route connecting Dubai with the capital, Abu Dhabi, was partly blocked in both directions, while a highway passing through the city was reduced to a single lane in one direction.

“There was nothing like this. It seemed like an extraterrestrial invasion,” British resident Jonathan Richards told Reuters.

“I woke up the other morning to people in kayaks with pet dogs, pet cats, and suitcases all outside my house.” Rinku Makhecha, a different resident, said that the rain flooded her newly remodeled home, which she had moved into two weeks previously.

“My entire living room is just like … all my furniture is floating right now,” she said.

Buses, among other vehicles, were abandoned on the streets; some were even visible submerged in water. Some restaurants and stores in Abu Dhabi had supply shortages since they could not receive delivery from Dubai.

Following the storm’s flooding of taxiways, which resulted in aircraft delays, cancellations, and diversions, Dubai Airport has not yet resumed regular operations.

Majed Al Joker, the chief operating officer of Dubai Airports, said to Al Arabiya TV that he anticipated Dubai International Airport to operate at 60–70% capacity by Thursday night and at full capacity in less than a day.

With surrounding roads submerged and crowds restricting entry for those with booked reservations, the airport battled to provide meals to trapped travelers.

RETURNING EQUIPMENT

Following its Sunday impact on neighboring Oman, the storm pummeled the UAE on Tuesday, leaving one person dead there and twenty in Oman.

Delivery services gradually started returning to the streets in Dubai, where people are used to ordering things with a mouse click, even if several roads into the hardest-hit districts are still inundated.

In the United Arab Emirates and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula, where the weather is usually arid and desert-like, rain is uncommon.

Temperatures in the summer might get beyond 50 degrees Celsius.

Following Tuesday’s occurrences, speculation arose as to whether the massive rains were caused by cloud seeding, a procedure that the UAE often uses.

However, climate scientists attribute these catastrophic weather occurrences to global warming.

Researchers predict that higher temperatures, more humidity, and an increased danger of floods in certain areas of the Gulf region will result from climate change. The most vulnerable are nations like the United Arab Emirates, which lack the drainage infrastructure necessary to handle prolonged downpours.

An UAE government organization in charge of cloud seeding, which is the technique of influencing clouds to produce more rainfall, denied carrying out any such activities before to the storm.

In a statement, President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said he had given the go-ahead for officials to evaluate the damage and provide assistance to storm-affected people.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, said on X that everyone’s safety, including locals and guests, comes first.

“At a meeting with government officials in Dubai, we set directives to prepare comprehensive plans in response to natural crises’ such as the unexpected current weather conditions,” he said.