TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2024
Team Herald
Dubai experienced a deluge on Tuesday as heavy thunderstorms swept across the United Arab Emirates, causing significant flooding and disrupting daily life in the glitzy city. Over a year and a half's worth of rainfall poured down in just a few hours, inundating roads and leading to chaos at Dubai International Airport.
The desert city-state was hit by intense rainfall, with approximately 20 millimetres (0.79 inches) of rain drenching the area late Monday, followed by a worsening storm on Tuesday morning. This extreme weather event, associated with a larger storm system moving across the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf of Oman, brought life to a standstill in Dubai.
The heavy showers that disrupted life in Dubai City were associated with a larger storm system travelling the Arabian Peninsula and moving across the Gulf of Oman. Recently, heavy rains in Oman caused severe flooding in the region, claiming the lives of 18 people. Heavy rains were also reported in neighbouring Oman and southeastern Iran. As per reports, global warming is attributed as the trigger behind the unusual torrential rain. Climatologists believe that the deadly and destructive rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused climate change.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) experienced what some described as apocalyptic scenes with roads around the airport submerged, and wealthy drivers in luxury cars were seen 'floating' through the flooded streets, according to witness accounts. Popular shopping centres Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates were flooded and water was ankle-deep in at least one Dubai Metro station, according to photos and videos posted on social media.
