UAE struggles to recover

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates tried to wring itself out on Thursday after the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, with its main airport allowing more ights even as oodwater still covered portions of major highways and communities.

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, allowed global carriers on Thursday morning to again y into Terminal 1 at the air eld. And long-haul carrier Emirates, crucial to East-West travel, began allowing local passengers to arrive at Terminal 3, their base of operations.

However, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said in an interview with The Associated Press that the air eld needed at least another 24 hours to resume operations close to its usual schedule.

Meanwhile, one desert community in Dubai saw oodwaters continue to rise on Thursday to as much as 1 metre (3 feet) as civil defence officials struggled to pump out the water.

“We were looking at the radar thinking, ‘Goodness, if this hits, then it’s going to be cataclysmic,’” Mr Griffiths said of the storm.

“And indeed it was.” The airport ended up needing 22 tankers with vacuum pumps to get water off its grounds. Mr Griffiths acknowledged that taxiways ooded during the rains, though the airport’s runways remained free of water to safely operate. Online videos of a FlyDubai ight landing with its reverse thrust spraying out water caught the world’s attention.

“It looks dramatic, but it actually isn’t that dramatic,” Mr Griffiths said.