Extreme Weather Alert: Dubai Malls and Airport Submerged as Storm Brings 1.5 Years of Rain to UAE in Hours

Dubai, city-state in the desert but known for the glittering skyscrapers, luxurious lifestyle and extravaganza, has faced an unseen natural event this week. The heavy downpour that had given the city a name and fame had turned into a mass flooding, submerging major roads, airports, and metro system as well, the city's pride and joy. It never ceases to amaze me how one day of rainfall can have such an extreme impact on the entire city. Raining on Tuesday alone, as much as Dubai usually receives in a year and a half, only meant that the streets were flooded and people were running around in sheer panic.


But the gravity of the incident took an unexpected turn, with Fujairah, the easternmost Emirate, receiving the highest rainfall measured at 145 mm (5.7inches). Unfortunately, a death was announced in Ras al-Khaimah, the country's northern most emirate which was the case of a 70 years old who lost his life in the driving waters.


The rainfall was blamed to have been caused by a low-pressure system which moved across the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf maybe with the addition of cloud seeding techniques. The Mall of the Emirates, one of the most popular shopping mall in Dubai, was visited by heavy rain with water dripping from the roofs and parts of its structure affected by the storm. Almost everyone saw the Deira City Centre and the Sharjah City Centre as examples of how the wind drove the waves ashore.


The Emirate's Airport, which is used to the hectic scene, had a tough time managing the submersion, which resulted in the temporary closure of all the incoming flights and passengers who were in fact stranded on the waterlogged tarmacs. The uncertainty of road conditions was no better; many were in such trouble that they faced additional difficulties while driving in the water-logged city streets, proving their strength.

Emergency crews promptly deployed tanker trucks to pump out the excess water, while some residences were not spared from the intrusion. Over a span of 24 hours, Dubai recorded an astounding 142 millimetres of rainfall, far surpassing its average annual precipitation. The iconic Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, occasionally became a backdrop for lightning strikes, illuminating the skyline with a dazzling display of nature's power.


Now norms of the scorching desert were changed when the UAE turned into a wet environment as most of neighbors like Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia also got rain showers developmentally. The disruptions caused by storms are not limited to the city of Dubai, they affect the flights and operations as well, the arrival delay index would tell us what belongs to Flightradar24 for the Dubai airport for this purpose.


In the aftermath of the severe weather publication, the solidarity was flowing to Oman: There the heaviest rains have occurred in the past few days, and in the course of these tragic events more than 50 of the locals were lost, including a group of schoolchildren swept away in a car. The resilience of the communities suffering from this will be tested as they reflect on the situation and find their ways up from the unexpected natural calamity.