1 month ago
Historic rain, flash flooding successful Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates struggled Thursday to recover from nan heaviest recorded rainfall ever to deed nan godforsaken nation, arsenic its main airdrome worked to reconstruct normal operations moreover arsenic floodwater still covered portions of awesome highways and roads.
Dubai International Airport, nan world's busiest for world travel, allowed world carriers connected Thursday greeting to again alert into Terminal 1 astatine nan airfield. Later Thursday, nan installation said successful a connection posted connected societal media that its Terminal 3 was besides reopening for formation check-in, but it warned passengers to travel only if their pending departure was confirmed owed to "a precocious measurement of guests successful nan check-in area."
"Flights proceed to beryllium delayed and disrupted, truthful we impulse you to only travel to Terminal 1 if you person a confirmed booking," nan airdrome said successful its series of tweets.
People hold astatine a formation relationship table aft a rainstorm deed Dubai, causing terrible disruptions astatine Dubai International Airport, successful nan United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024.
Rula Rouhana/REUTERS
The long-haul bearer Emirates, whose operations had been struggling since nan large wind Tuesday, had stopped travelers flying retired of nan UAE from checking into their flights arsenic they tried to move retired connecting passengers. Pilots and formation crews had been struggling to scope nan airdrome fixed nan h2o connected roadways. But connected Thursday, they lifted that bid to let customers into nan airport.
Others who arrived astatine nan airdrome described hourslong waits to get their baggage, pinch immoderate conscionable giving up to caput location aliases to immoderate edifice would person them.
The UAE, a hereditarily ruled, autocratic federation connected nan Arabian Peninsula, typically sees small rainfall successful its arid godforsaken climate. However, a monolithic large wind forecasters had been informing astir for days blew done nan country's 7 sheikhdoms. By nan extremity of Tuesday, much than 5.59 inches of rainfall had soaked Dubai complete 24 hours. An mean twelvemonth sees 3.73 inches of rainfall astatine Dubai International Airport. Other areas of nan state saw moreover much precipitation.
The UAE's drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed, flooding retired neighborhoods, business districts and moreover portions of nan 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road road moving done Dubai.
The state-run WAM news agency called nan rainfall "a historical upwind event" that surpassed "anything documented since nan commencement of information postulation successful 1949."
In a connection to nan federation precocious Wednesday, Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, nan ruler of Abu Dhabi, said authorities would "quickly activity connected studying nan information of infrastructure passim nan UAE and to limit nan harm caused."
On Thursday, group waded done oil-slicked floodwater to scope cars earlier abandoned, checking to spot if their engines still ran. Tanker trucks pinch vacuums began reaching immoderate areas extracurricular of Dubai's downtown halfway for nan first clip arsenic well. Schools stay closed until adjacent week.
A man walks done floodwater successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024.
Jon Gambrell/AP
Authorities person offered nary wide harm aliases wounded accusation from nan floods, which killed astatine slightest 1 person.
"Crises uncover nan spot of countries and societies," Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wrote connected X. "The earthy ambiance situation that we knowledgeable showed nan awesome care, awareness, cohesion and emotion for each area of nan state from each its citizens and residents."
The flooding sparked speculation that nan UAE's fierce campaign of unreality seeding — flying mini planes done clouds dispersing chemicals aimed astatine getting rainfall to fall — whitethorn person contributed to nan deluge. But experts said nan large wind systems that produced nan rainfall were forecast good successful beforehand and that unreality seeding unsocial would not person caused specified flooding.
Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, said nan flooding successful Dubai was caused by an unusually beardown debased unit strategy that drove galore rounds of dense thunderstorms.
Climatologists person warned for years that human-driven climate change is fueling more utmost and little predictable weather events crossed nan globe.
Parts of confederate Russia and Central Asia person besides been dealing for days pinch unusually damaging amounts of rainfall and snowmelt, forcing tens of thousands of group to evacuate to higher crushed and killing much than 120 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Dubai hosted nan United Nations' COP28 ambiance talks conscionable past year.
Abu Dhabi's state-linked newspaper The National, successful an editorial Thursday, described nan dense rains arsenic a informing to countries successful nan wider Persian Gulf region to "climate-proof their futures."
"The standard of this task is much daunting that it appears moreover astatine first glance, because specified changes impact changing nan municipality situation of a region that for arsenic agelong arsenic it has been inhabited, has knowledgeable small but power and sand," nan newspaper said.
- In:
- United Arab Emirates
- Climate Change
- Dubai International Airport
- Severe Weather
- Persian Gulf
- Flooding
- Flash Flooding
- Dubai
