STORM SLIPS PAST UAE, BUT WEATHER REMAINS UNSTABLE
▶ Rain hits parts of Dubai and Abu Dhabi for a second day and the rest of the week will be cloudy and windy
Unsettled weather will continue for the rest of the week but the UAE appears to have avoided a second storm that was due to hit the coast yesterday.
The National Centre of Meteorology had said a storm system over the Arabian Gulf was moving towards the coast and was expected to hit in several waves throughout the day, bringing strong winds and possibly rain, thunder and lightning.
Although heavy rain fell over parts of Dubai and a few isolated areas of Abu Dhabi yesterday, satellite maps showed the storm system, which lashed Kuwait and caused fatal flash flooding, has moved westward into Saudi Arabia.
The bureau said conditions would remain cloudy and windy for the rest of the week with “scattered rain” possible, but nothing compared with the storm on Sunday night.
Rain will probably fall over the coastal and northern areas of the country, reducing visibility to less than 1km in areas, forecasters said.
North-westerly winds are expected to reach speeds of up to 45kph and temperatures will remain cool, ranging between 15°C and 33°C.
Seas will continue to be rough for the next few days, particularly in the Arabian Gulf.
Sunday’s storm dumped eight months’ worth of rain – 49.4 millimetres – in only one hour in an area between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, forecasters said.
The weather brought chaos to the country’s roads, toppled trees, caused power cuts and forced the cancellation of a Dua Lipa concert at Louvre Abu Dhabi to celebrate the museum’s first anniversary.
Police in Abu Dhabi responded to the heavy rain and strong wind by sending out an emergency alert to mobile phones.
The message advised residents to stay indoors for their own safety.
“Abu Dhabi Police has raised the level of readiness for weather changes by intensifying patrols, ambulances, emergency teams and water bodies, in co-ordination with strategic partners through command and public safety and the highest rate of response speed,” the message read.
Bad weather has battered the region in recent days.
In Kuwait, the public works minister resigned after a man died on Saturday as he tried to rescue his family from their flooded home after heavy rains.
In Jordan, more than a dozen people have died because of flash flooding.
Yesterday, rescuers found the body of a girl, 5, raising the death toll to 13.
Torrential rains swept the south of the kingdom on Friday, forcing nearly 4,000 tourists to flee the desert city of Petra and causing damage to roads, homes and vehicles.
Last month, flash floods in the Dead Sea region of Jordan killed 21 people, most of them children on a school trip, prompting the ministers of tourism and education to resign over the government’s response.