After pouring rain, clouds set to clear today
SCHOOLS SUSPEND CLASSES AND OFFICE-GOERS STRUGGLE TO REACH WORKPLACE
Heavy rain that caused flight delays and traffic gridlock due to flooding made UAE residents’ commute to work and school a major challenge yesterday morning.
Motorists in Sharjah struggled to wade through flooded streets in the Al Majaz area and nearby areas. Some residents had to walk in ankle-deep water.
Pakistani motorist Zubair Haider, 39, was stuck for an hour on the Third Industrial Street near the Al Shahba area in Sharjah because a section of the busy road was flooded.
“People on the other side of the road were saying they turned back after being stuck for more than an hour. ‘It’s no use, just go back home’, they said. So I took a right into a byroad and after some more turns and driving through pools, managed to reach close to my home. I parked and walked home,” said Haider, who works in Dubai.
Many schools suspended classes and advised parents not to send their kids due to the rainy weather.
Examinations and assessments would be rescheduled at a later date, a school notice read. Sharjah University also closed doors.
Some schools, however, failed to alert parents ahead of time.
A Pakistani father said his children were in the school bus for almost five hours, from 6.15am when they were picked up to around 10.45am when they were dropped home.
“The school decided to send the children home but this was after the children had already been picked up. But the traffic was horrible on the way back,” the father said.
Meanwhile Sharjah Police said no major accidents occurred yesterday.
Police deployed as many as 108 patrols on roads to regulate traffic while municipality tankers worked non-stop to pump water off the roads.
In Ras Al Khaimah, police closed Wadi Ghaleila Road due to flash floods from the Jais Mountain that received 41.2mm of rain.
The highest recorded rainfall was in Umm Al Quwain that got 55.4mm, followed by Wadi Shaheh at 55mm.
In Dubai, the Jumeirah area got the most rain with 32.8mm while the Burj Khalifa weather station recorded 13.2mm.
Flooding and blockages on all major roads in Dubai were cleared by midday, a top official said on Monday.
Taleb Julfar, CEO of Dubai Municipality for Infrastructure Services Sector, said teams under the civic body had been out in the field to tackle rain-related incidents since Sunday.
About 1,000 workers and 500 technicians have been working overtime and in three shifts, he told Gulf News.
“We had problems with trees and branches falling off because of the wind. But our people have already cleared most of it. Everything is under control and nobody was harmed. That is the big thing.”
Due to the weather, some Emirates flights have been delayed as well, a spokesperson said.
Skies to clear
The skies will be clear today although there is a chance of rain over the islands, western coastal areas, Sharjah and northwards. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy.
Keep your jackets ready tomorrow as a cold snap brought about by the northwesterly wind is expected with the mercury dipping to an average minimum 15 degrees C in Dubai. Across the country, the average minimum temperature will be below 20 degrees C.