Dubai: Some residents in Dubai used a rubber boat on Tuesday to move around the flooded streets after a storm hit the emirate. Dubai International Airport was temporarily diverting arriving flights on Tuesday evening until weather conditions improve. On Monday, Dubai Police issued a public safety advisory alerting residents to the adverse weather conditions.
The UAE's National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) stated that from Tuesday afternoon to early Wednesday morning, another wave of unstable weather was expected to begin from western areas and spread across scattered areas of the country.
VIDEO: Residents use rubber boat in Dubai's flooded street
The rains began late Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 20 millimetres (0.79 inches) of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified around 9 a.m. local Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.
Several flights cancelled amid bad weather
By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimetres (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimetres (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.
At the airport, standing water lapped on taxiways as aircraft landed. The airport ended up halting arrivals Tuesday night and passengers struggled to reach terminals through the floodwater covering surrounding roads.
Dubai floods disrupted metro services
Police and emergency personnel drove slowly through the flooded streets of Dubai, their emergency lights shining across the darkened roads. Lightning flashed across the sky, occasionally touching the tip of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. The city's driverless Metro saw disruptions and flooded stations as well. Schools across the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, largely shut ahead of the storm and government employees were largely working remotely if able. Many workers stayed home as well, though some ventured out, with the unfortunate stalling out their vehicles in deeper-than-expected water covering some roads.
Authorities sent tanker trucks out into the streets and highways to pump away the water. Water poured into some homes, forcing people to bail out their houses. The country's hereditary rulers offered no overall damage information or injury information for the nation, as some slept into their flooded vehicles Tuesday night. In Ras al-Khaimah, the country's northernmost emirate, police said one 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater.
Schools shut amid massive floods
Fujairah, an emirate on the UAE's eastern coast, saw the heaviest rainfall Tuesday with 145 millimetres (5.7 inches) falling there. Authorities cancelled school and the government instituted remote work again for Wednesday. Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months. Many roads and other areas lack drainage given the lack of regular rainfall, causing flooding. Rain also fell in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
(With inputs from agencies)
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