After the deluge: Dubai struggles to get its head above water

DUBAI: Dubai remained paralyzed on Wednesday as a massive clean-up began after the heaviest rainfall on record.

Traffic tailbacks snaked along waterlogged six-lane expressways, one road tunnel near the airport was flooded to a depth of several meters, and the airport itself was effectively out of operation.

Passengers were warned not to turn up unless absolutely necessary. “Flights continue to be delayed and diverted,” a Dubai Airports spokesman said. “We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible.”

Emirates airline canceled all check-ins as staff and passengers struggled to arrive and leave, with access roads flooded and some Metro services suspended.

The UAE was deluged by 259.5 millimeters of rain on Tuesday, the most since records began 75 years ago. Residents described being stranded in cars and offices overnight.
“It was one of the most horrific situations I have ever experienced, because I knew that if my car broke down, it would sink and I would drown with it,” said one worker after his 15-minute commute became a 12-hour nightmare on flooded roads. “I was very afraid.”

Maryam Al-Shehhi, senior weather forecaster at the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology, denied that the UAE had carried out cloud seeding to increase rainfall. “We did not use cloud seeding because the storm was already strong,” she said.

“The desert needs more time than other land for water to seep in. The amount of rain that has fallen is too much for the land to absorb.”