When record downpours sent water flooding into his Dubai home, Riaz Haq expected the levels to drop once it stopped raining. But instead of falling, the water kept rising higher.

“We went to bed, the water was half-a-metre (half-a-yard),” the British lawyer said, recalling Tuesday’s tempest that flooded homes, malls, offices and roads.

“We woke up and it was one metre. My cars were submerged, water to our waist. Everything is ruined.”

Haq, his wife and their dog spent more than two days trapped on the upper floor of their two-storey home before they were finally rescued by a neighbour’s boat on Thursday.

The couple, who were only able to salvage some bread and snacks, did not eat for most of that time, surviving on a few bottles of water.

“Fridge, freezer, even my car was floating. Everything was floating,” he told AFP. “I had a brand new car. It’s all ruined.”

“It’s a natural disaster situation. No one was prepared for this level of carnage,” he added.

During their ordeal Haq, his wife and their neighbours — about 18 families in a suburban residential community — were too scared to wade out through the waist-high, smelly water, fearing electrocution.

‘Water is locked in’

The failure of water to drain away has proved a major obstacle to recovery efforts in the desert country, with persistent flooding blocking roads around Dubai days later.

Impassable roads have affected basic services, with supermarkets unable to restock and many employees struggling to reach their workplaces.

Dubai’s airport, the world’s busiest for international passengers, has suffered badly from staff shortages with flight cancellations and delays expected to continue into the weekend.

Karim Elgendy, associate director at the Buro Happold engineering consultancy, said drainage for storm water had not been widely included in planning for the city, much of which is only a few years old.

“Someone must have vetoed this because of the fact that it hardly rains. This conversation, I think, when it happened, was short,” he told AFP.

“Water is locked in. If you have a hard surface like the road or the airport, where will it go? The ground is too hard (to absorb water),” Elgendy added.

Without drainage for excess water, authorities rely on pumping trucks to suck it up with giant hoses and drive it away.

Elgendy called this a “stopgap” measure. But he said it was very difficult to install storm water systems once infrastructure has been built.

“Once a city is built in a certain way, retrofitting storm water management is next to impossible,” he said.

‘Brand Dubai’

Four people died after the heaviest rainfall on record in the oil-rich UAE, including two Filipino women who suffocated inside their vehicle in Dubai’s flooding.

Climate change will make extreme weather events more common, Elgendy warned, saying the storm — which dumped up to two years’ worth of rain on the Gulf country — was consistent with the effects of global warming.

“What this particular incident highlights is that the historic calculus on (whether to install storm water systems) has changed, because there is a cost,” he said.

“There’s also a reputational cost. These scenes of the runways and airplanes taking off in water — I don’t think that’s consistent with Brand Dubai,” he added, referring to widely shared footage of planes taxiing through standing water on Tuesday.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has ordered at-risk families to be moved to safety and directed an urgent study of the country’s infrastructure.

While Haq is reassured by the support, uncertainty remains.

“We don’t know when we will be able to come back to normality,” he said.

“They are using tankers to remove the water. It will take days. But I’m sure the authorities will do everything they can to get us back to our homes.”
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Dubai airport, one of the world’s busiest, witnessed major disruption for a third straight day Thursday after the heaviest rains on record drenched the desert United Arab Emirates.

Emirates, Dubai’s state-owned flagship airline, and sister carrier flydubai resumed check-ins after telling passengers to stay away on Wednesday when thousands of delayed passengers clogged the airport.

The airport, which handles more international passengers than any other, hopes to resume “something approaching normality” within 24 hours, Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths told AFP.

Some 1,244 flights were cancelled and 41 were diverted on Tuesday and Wednesday after torrential rains flooded the Middle East financial centre including its homes, malls and offices, and highways.

Traffic congestion remained severe on Thursday, two days after the storms, with at least one major road completely blocked by water and multiple junctions cut off by flooding.

Climate experts say the rains, the UAE’s heaviest since records began 75 years ago, are consistent with changes caused by global warming.

“There’s no news here,” Karim Elgendy, Associate Director at the Buro Happold engineering consultancy and associate fellow at Britain’s Chatham House think tank, told AFP. 

“We are expecting an increase in variability of rainfall, which means more extreme events, more drought and an increase in intensity of rainfall when it does rain.

‘Deeply distressed’ 

Dubai airport has witnessed chaotic scenes with crowds of marooned travellers clamouring for information about their flights.

Even as Emirates and flydubai resumed check-ins, more than 200 departures were listed as delayed or cancelled on the airport’s website.

Griffiths said it was “challenging” to get the airport fully functional, with supplies and staff also held up on flooded roads.

“Getting supplies through, people and all of the necessary things to the airport to help the schedule recover, was a massive challenge because all of the roads were blocked,” he said in an interview.

“We just hope that the level of customer care that we’ve been able to provide will go some way to mitigate the impacts that we had to customers. But obviously we’re deeply distressed by all of the disruption and concern that we’ve created,” he added.

One elderly couple’s 14-hour flight from Brisbane took 24 hours on Tuesday after it was diverted, and they were then unable to reach their hotel because of the flooding.

“It’s just the start of our holiday and I feel like going home — and I don’t know how to do that either,” Julie, 72, told AFP through tears.

“When they landed the plane on this airfield that was deserted, there was no terminal, there were no other planes and I thought we had been hijacked by terrorists,” she added, without giving her surname.

Makeshift ferry

Although schools and public sector offices have been closed until next week, traffic returned to the roads with some motorists, finding their route blocked, driving the wrong way down highways.

Supermarkets had empty shelves as deliveries failed to arrive, and retail staff reported having to stay overnight or sleep at hotels because they could not get home.

“We’re working but the problem is we’re not receiving chicken,” said one employee at a chicken restaurant that had no chicken or fries on display.

“The delivery cannot come here because of the flood.”

In the Arjan district, a man used a canoe to paddle passengers across a flooded street.

With taxis hard to book and hail, private motorists were stopping at queues of people and offering rides for high prices.

British visitor Chris Moss, 30, was one of those looking for a cab as he tried to reach the airport and locate his lost luggage.

“When we arrived the baggage area was full of bags but my luggage was nowhere to be seen,” said Moss, whose plane, hastily booked after his original flight was cancelled, arrived five hours late.

“It was still on the plane because the baggage area was flooded and they couldn’t get the bags off.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Vehicles drive through standing floodwater caused by heavy rain on an onramp to Sheikh Zayed Road highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The United Arab Emirates attempted to dry out Thursday from the heaviest rain the desert nation has ever recorded, a deluge that flooded out Dubai International Airport and disrupted flights through the world’s busiest airfield for international travel.
| Photo Credit: AP

India’s consulate here has launched helpline numbers for Indians and stranded passengers affected by unprecedented heavy rains pounded the city and the northern Emirate of the UAE.

Heavy rains swept through the United Arab Emirates and surrounding countries on Tuesday, affecting normal life. The tarmac of the busy Dubai International Airport was left submerged, leading to the cancellation of flights.

In a post on X, India’s consulate mentioned the helpline numbers through which the Indian community can seek help for their issues following extreme weather conditions.

According to the consulate, +971501205172, +971569950590, +971507347676, and +971585754213 were available for weather-related emergencies.

The Consulate also said it is in touch with UAE authorities and the airlines to facilitate stranded passengers.

“Regular updates from airlines are being conveyed to travellers, and relief measures have been extended in association with Indian community organisations,” the Indian Consulate said.

“We have facilitated connection between stranded passengers and their families in India. Helpline numbers will continue until normalcy returns. We remain committed to serving the Indian community living in or travelling to Dubai and the Northern Emirates,” the mission said.

Authorities struggled on Thursday to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads.

By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimetres (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimetres (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport. Other areas of the country saw even more precipitation.

The UAE’s drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed, flooding neighbourhoods, business districts and even portions of the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road highway running through Dubai.

A person stands surrounded by flood water caused by heavy rains, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on April 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) struggled on April 18 to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads.

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, allowed global carriers on April 18 morning to again fly into Terminal 1 at the airfield.

In the below post shared by the Dubai Media Office, a cat that has been clinging on to a car door is being saved by rescuers

“Flights continue to be delayed and disrupted, so we urge you to only come to Terminal 1 if you have a confirmed booking,” the airport said on the social platform X.

The long-haul carrier Emirates, whose operations had been struggling since the storm on April 16, had stopped travellers flying out of the UAE from checking into their flights as they tried to move out connecting passengers. Pilots and flight crews had been struggling to reach the airport given the water on roadways. But on April 18, they lifted that order to allow customers into the airport.

Others who arrived at the airport described hourslong waits to get their baggage, with some just giving up to head home or to whatever hotel would have them.

The UAE, a hereditarily ruled, autocratic nation on the Arabian Peninsula, typically sees little rainfall in its arid desert climate. However, a massive storm forecasters had been warning about for days blew through the country’s seven sheikhdoms.

By the end of April 16, more than 142 millimetres (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimetres (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport. Other areas of the country saw even more precipitation.

The UAE’s drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed, flooding out neighbourhoods, business districts and even portions of the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road highway running through Dubai.

The state-run WAM news agency called the rain “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.” In a message to the nation late Wednesday, Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, said authorities would “quickly work on studying the condition of infrastructure throughout the UAE and to limit the damage caused.” On April 18, people waded through oil-slicked floodwater to reach cars earlier abandoned, checking to see if their engines still ran. Tanker trucks with vacuums began reaching some areas outside of Dubai’s downtown core for the first time as well. Schools remain closed until next week.

Authorities have offered no overall damage or injury information from the floods, which killed at least one person.

“Crises reveal the strength of countries and societies,” Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wrote on X. “The natural climate crisis that we experienced showed the great care, awareness, cohesion and love for every corner of the country from all its citizens and residents.” The flooding sparked speculation that the UAE’s aggressive campaign of cloud seeding — flying small planes through clouds dispersing chemicals aimed at getting rain to fall — may have contributed to the deluge. But experts said the storm systems that produced the rain were forecast well in advance and that cloud seeding alone would not have caused such flooding.

Also read | Artificial rain to fix pollution remains a nebulous science

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, said the flooding in Dubai was caused by an unusually strong low pressure system that drove many rounds of heavy thunderstorms.

Scientists also say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires around the world. Dubai hosted the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks just last year.

Abu Dhabi’s state-linked newspaper The National in an editorial on April 18 described the heavy rains as a warning to countries in the wider Persian Gulf region to “climate-proof their futures.” “The scale of this task is more daunting that it appears even at first glance, because such changes involve changing the urban environment of a region that for as long as it has been inhabited, has experienced little but heat and sand,” the newspaper said.

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What caused the storm that led to Dubai floods?

Following the floods in Dubai, questions were raised whether cloud seeding, a process that the UAE frequently conducts, could have caused the heavy rains. But the UAE’s meteorology agency said there were no such operations before the storm. The huge rainfall was instead likely due to a normal weather system that was exacerbated by climate change, experts say.

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A person walks towards cars stranded in flood water caused by heavy rains, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A storm hit the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week bringing record rainfall that flooded highways, inundated houses, grid-locked traffic and trapped people in their homes.

At least 20 people were reported to have died in the deluge in Oman while another person was said to have died in floods in the UAE that closed government offices and schools for days.

The storm had initially hit Oman on Sunday before it pounded the UAE on Tuesday, knocking out power and causing huge disruptions to flights as runways were turned into rivers.

ALSO READ | Artificial rain to fix pollution remains a nebulous science

In the UAE, a record 254 millimetres (10 inches) of rainfall was recorded in Al Ain, a city bordering Oman. It was the largest ever in a 24-hour period since records started in 1949.

Did cloud seeding cause the storm?

Rainfall is rare in the UAE and elsewhere on the Arabian Peninsula, that is typically known for its dry desert climate. Summer air temperatures can soar above 50 degrees Celsius.

But the UAE and Oman also lack drainage systems to cope with heavy rains and submerged roads are not uncommon during rainfall.

Following Tuesday’s events, questions were raised whether cloud seeding, a process that the UAE frequently conducts, could have caused the heavy rains.

Cloud seeding is a process in which chemicals are implanted into clouds to increase rainfall in an environment where water scarcity is a concern.

The UAE, located in one of the hottest and driest regions on earth, has been leading the effort to seed clouds and increase precipitation.

But the UAE’s meteorology agency told Reuters there were no such operations before the storm.

What about climate change?

The huge rainfall was instead likely due to a normal weather system that was exacerbated by climate change, experts say.

A low pressure system in the upper atmosphere, coupled with low pressure at the surface had acted like a pressure ‘squeeze’ on the air, according to Esraa Alnaqbi, a senior forecaster at the UAE government’s National Centre of Meteorology.

That squeeze, intensified by the contrast between warmer temperatures at ground level and colder temperatures higher up, created the conditions for the powerful thunderstorm, she said.

The “abnormal phenomenon” was not unexpected in April as when the season changes the pressure changes rapidly, she said, adding that climate change also likely contributed to the storm.

Climate scientists say that rising global temperatures, caused by human-led climate change, is leading to more extreme weather events around the world, including intense rainfall.

“Rainfall from thunderstorms, like the ones seen in UAE in recent days, sees a particular strong increase with warming. This is because convection, which is the strong updraft in thunderstorms, strengthens in a warmer world,” said Dim Coumou, a professor in climate extremes at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Cannot create clouds from nothing

Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, said rainfall was becoming much heavier around the world as the climate warms because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. It was misleading to talk about cloud seeding as the cause of the heavy rainfall, she said.

“Cloud seeding can’t create clouds from nothing. It encourages water that is already in the sky to condense faster and drop water in certain places. So first, you need moisture. Without it, there’d be no clouds,” she said.

Global warming has resulted in “extraordinarily” warm water in the seas around Dubai, where there is also very warm air above, said Mark Howden, Director at the Australian National University’s Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions.

“This increases both potential evaporation rates and the capacity of the atmosphere to hold that water, allowing bigger dumps of rainfall such as what we have just seen in Dubai.”

Gabi Hegerl, a climatologist at Edinburgh University, said that extreme rainfall, like in the UAE and Oman, was likely to get worse in many places due to the effects of climate change.

When conditions are perfect for really heavy rain, there’s more moisture in the air, so it rains harder. This extra moisture is because the air is warmer, which is because of human-caused climate change, she said.

A person walks towards cars stranded in flood water caused by heavy rains, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A storm hit the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week bringing record rainfall that flooded highways, inundated houses, grid-locked traffic and trapped people in their homes.

At least 20 people were reported to have died in the deluge in Oman while another person was said to have died in floods in the UAE that closed government offices and schools for days.

Also read | Artificial rain to fix pollution remains a nebulous science

The storm had initially hit Oman on Sunday before it pounded the UAE on Tuesday, knocking out power and causing huge disruptions to flights as runways were turned into rivers.

In the UAE, a record 254 millimetres (10 inches) of rainfall was recorded in Al Ain, a city bordering Oman. It was the largest ever in a 24-hour period since records started in 1949.

Did cloud seeding cause the storm?

Rainfall is rare in the UAE and elsewhere on the Arabian Peninsula, that is typically known for its dry desert climate. Summer air temperatures can soar above 50 degrees Celsius.

But the UAE and Oman also lack drainage systems to cope with heavy rains and submerged roads are not uncommon during rainfall.

Following Tuesday’s events, questions were raised whether cloud seeding, a process that the UAE frequently conducts, could have caused the heavy rains.

Cloud seeding is a process in which chemicals are implanted into clouds to increase rainfall in an environment where water scarcity is a concern.

The UAE, located in one of the hottest and driest regions on earth, has been leading the effort to seed clouds and increase precipitation.

But the UAE’s meteorology agency told Reuters there were no such operations before the storm.

What about climate change?

The huge rainfall was instead likely due to a normal weather system that was exacerbated by climate change, experts say.

A low pressure system in the upper atmosphere, coupled with low pressure at the surface had acted like a pressure ‘squeeze’ on the air, according to Esraa Alnaqbi, a senior forecaster at the UAE government’s National Centre of Meteorology.

That squeeze, intensified by the contrast between warmer temperatures at ground level and colder temperatures higher up, created the conditions for the powerful thunderstorm, she said.

The “abnormal phenomenon” was not unexpected in April as when the season changes the pressure changes rapidly, she said, adding that climate change also likely contributed to the storm.

Climate scientists say that rising global temperatures, caused by human-led climate change, is leading to more extreme weather events around the world, including intense rainfall.

“Rainfall from thunderstorms, like the ones seen in UAE in recent days, sees a particular strong increase with warming. This is because convection, which is the strong updraft in thunderstorms, strengthens in a warmer world,” said Dim Coumou, a professor in climate extremes at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Cannot create clouds from nothing

Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, said rainfall was becoming much heavier around the world as the climate warms because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. It was misleading to talk about cloud seeding as the cause of the heavy rainfall, she said.

“Cloud seeding can’t create clouds from nothing. It encourages water that is already in the sky to condense faster and drop water in certain places. So first, you need moisture. Without it, there’d be no clouds,” she said.

Global warming has resulted in “extraordinarily” warm water in the seas around Dubai, where there is also very warm air above, said Mark Howden, Director at the Australian National University’s Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions.

“This increases both potential evaporation rates and the capacity of the atmosphere to hold that water, allowing bigger dumps of rainfall such as what we have just seen in Dubai.”

Gabi Hegerl, a climatologist at Edinburgh University, said that extreme rainfall, like in the UAE and Oman, was likely to get worse in many places due to the effects of climate change.

When conditions are perfect for really heavy rain, there’s more moisture in the air, so it rains harder. This extra moisture is because the air is warmer, which is because of human-caused climate change, she said.