Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
18-04-2024
DUBAI: The rains began overnight, leaving massive ponds on streets as whipping winds disrupted flights at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and the home of the long-haul carrier Emirates. By the evening, over 120 millimetres (4.75 inches) of rainfall had soaked the city-state, the typical average for a year in the desert nation with more expected in the coming hours.
Police and emergency personnel drove slowly through the flooded streets, their emergency lights flashing across the darkened morning. Lightning flashed across the sky, occasionally touching the tip of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
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.
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.
In neighboring Oman, a sultanate that rests on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 18 people had been killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement Tuesday from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management. That includes some 10 schoolchildren swept away in a vehicle with an adult, which saw condolences come into the country from rulers across the region.
At least 18 people were also killed as rainfall soaked Oman overnight, according to a statement on Tuesday from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management.
Among them were 10 schoolchildren who were swept away in a bus.
Meanwhile, in Dubai, a year’s worth of rain unleashed immense flash flooding, disrupting flights its airport and forcing people to evacuate their homes.
Police and emergency personnel were seen driving slowly through the flooded streets, while lightning flashed across the sky, occasionally touching the tip of the Burj Khalifa – the highest building in the world.
Rain is unusual in the UAE, so roads and other areas lack drainage systems. Authorities sent tanker trucks out into the streets and highways to pump away the water.
On Tuesday morning, the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology issued a weather warning for large swathes of the country, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
The Gulf region is usually known for hot and dry weather, though heavy rains causing flooding have also occurred with greater regularity in recent years.
In neighboring Oman, authorities said the death toll from flash floods had increased to 18, with some still missing. The dead included 10 students aged between 10 and 15 who were killed on 14 April when the vehicle they were travelling in attempted to cross a flooded area but was swept away.
In Bahrain, footage showed cars stranded in flooded roads.
Some commentators have linked the unusual weather to climate change, saying exceptional storms will become more common in future as the planet warms.
For every 1C rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This can result in more droplets and heavier rainfall, sometimes in a shorter space of time and over a smaller area. (Int’l News Desk)
