Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm (around 10 inches) of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours. Dubai International Airport, a major travel hub, struggled to clear a backlog of flights and many roads were still flooded in the aftermath of Tuesday’s deluge. The rains were the heaviest experienced by the United Arab Emirates in the 75 years that records have been kept. They brought much of the country to a standstill and caused significant damage.
Flooding trapped residents in traffic, offices and homes. Many reported leaks at their homes, while footage circulated on social media showed malls overrun with water pouring from roofs. Traffic remained heavily disrupted. A highway through Dubai was reduced to a single lane in one direction, while the main road that connects Dubai with the capital Abu Dhabi was closed in the Abu Dhabi direction.
Disrupted Airport Operations
Shocking video showed the tarmac of Dubai International Airport – recently crowned the second-busiest airport in the world – underwater as massive aircraft attempt to navigate floodwaters.
International Airport of #Dubai #DubaiFlooding #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/CxnQT2Xfob
— Fighter_4_Humanity (@Fighter_4_Human) April 18, 2024
Floating Cars
Luxury cars were seen almost entirely submerged in the Business Bay district which is home to apartment buildings, offices and retail outlets. A Dubai Metro station was flooded with commuters having to wade through ankle-deep water.
⚡️There is no better advertisement for Porsche: a video of a Porsche Taycan driving through the Dubai floods has gone viral on the net. #Dubai #DubaiFlooding #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/xlmlGNJ5U2
— Fighter_4_Humanity (@Fighter_4_Human) April 18, 2024
The Disturbing Scenes
It's so scary video of #DubaiFlooding.
Animals also suffering from floods.Pray for Dubai🙏
#LoveLabels#Dubai pic.twitter.com/UrLnrHnGIl— Surekha (@Surekha1401) April 18, 2024
https://twitter.com/meerhassankhan7/status/1780553785292558739
How The City Centre Looks Like
The apocalyptic flood and devastating weather conditions wreaked havoc on #Dubai.
Pray for Dubai. 🙏💔🤲#DubaiFlooding #dubairain #HalaMadrid #ManCity pic.twitter.com/zqx1CVQU8H
— Muhammad Khan (@khan00614) April 18, 2024
An official at the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology was cited by local newspaper The National as saying that the rain was not caused by cloud seeding, putting to rest rumors that the chaos was man-made. CNN has reached out to the center for comment.
Like the rest of the Persian Gulf region, Dubai has a hot and dry climate. As such, rainfall is infrequent, and the city’s infrastructure often fails to handle extreme weather events.
Source: edition.cnn
