Dubai’s record rain floods expensive homes and halts flights
Dubai flights have been severely disrupted and cars were left stranded on flooded roads after record rainfall over the past day brought the city to a standstill.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai’s media office said in a statement. It caused chaos as water entered the city’s expensive homes and underground car parks, left some buildings without power and resulted in widespread flooding even a day later.
One person died after being swept away by flash floods in the north of the country, the National newspaper reported. In neighbouring Oman, at least 18 people have died in recent days as the heavy rains caused flooding, AP reported, citing a statement from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management.
Dubai airport, one of the world’s busiest, is suffering from “significant disruption,” it said on Wednesday on X. Online departure boards showed most arrivals or departures as cancelled or delayed as of 1pm local time. Emirates, the biggest international airline, said it was halting all check-ins for passengers for the day.
The heavy rains across the desert nation came after cloud seeding. The UAE has been carrying out seeding operations since 2002 to address water security issues, but the lack of drainage in many areas can trigger flooding, including in cities such as Dubai that’s a global financial and business centre.
The Gulf state’s National Center of Meteorology dispatched at least seven seeding planes from Al Ain airport between Sunday and Monday, the government agency said. That technique involves implanting chemicals and tiny particles—often natural salts such as potassium chloride— into the atmosphere to coax more rain from clouds.
With global warming threatening a surge in heat-related deaths in the UAE, Dubai’s media office on Tuesday dubbed the downpours
“rains of goodness,” despite the flooded houses and overflowing swimming pools.
The latest storms followed heavy rains earlier this year that had also caused flooding and traffic snarls. Dubai’s government told its employees to work from home again on Wednesday due to the weather conditions and urged private employers to do the same. Schools have been directed to remain closed.