American space agency NASA has released photos of areas that were flooded in the UAE after last week’s torrential rain. NASA said it was a “slow-moving storm” system that brought so much rain into the Gulf states and dropped more than a year’s worth of downpour in some areas. The country’s meteorological department said it received 6.04 billion cubic metres of rain last week, which is close to the 6.7 billion cubic metres it receives in the entire year, according to Khaleej Times.

“Some areas remained flooded on April 19, when Landsat 9 (satellite) passed over the region for the first time since the storms. The image showed flooding in Jebel Ali,” said NASA.

Also Read | More Rain To Hit UAE From Monday, Week After Record Deluge In Dubai

Its Landsat 9 satellite monitors understanding and managing the land resources needed to sustain human life.

The space agency also posted a combination image of the deluge on X, showing the UAE on April 3 and April 19. The first image shows the arid plains, which the country is known for. The second one, meanwhile, shows blue coloured water puddles in some southern stretches.

In the United Arab Emirates, a storm system brought more than a year’s worth of rain to some cities earlier this week.

These #Landsat images show flooding around Abu Dhabi before and after the storms with enhanced color to show water in blue. https://t.co/y7OqLmrcH5pic.twitter.com/4kHEz0eULX

— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) April 19, 2024

Explaining the NASA images, Khaleej Times said the April 19 photo shows Sheikh Zayed Road, a major thoroughfare that runs through Dubai and Abu Dhabi, covered in water. Patches of flooded areas are also visible in Khalifa City and Zayed City, residential areas southeast of Abu Dhabi’s downtown.

The deluge hit the normal life in Dubai, where a majority of private sector entities opted for work from home.

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

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

The heavy rain is being blamed on climate change.

A leading weather experts has warned of “weather wars” between countries if cloud seeding gets out of hand. In a statement, Johan Jaques, a senior meteorologist at environmental technology company KISTERS, has warned if unintended consequences when technology is used to alter the weather. The comment comes as theories claiming Dubai’s torrential rainfall was caused by cloud seeding are doing the rounds on the internet. The practice, in which planes inject clouds with chemicals, was introduced in the 1940s especially in areas with little rainfall, or in case of prolonged dry spell.

But several experts don’t agree with the theory that cloud seeding was responsible, and the theory has caused a debate in the community.

Still, Mr Jaques thinks there could be diplomatic consequences and subsequent “weather wars” is cloud seeding is allowed to proliferate.

“Cloud seeding aims to enhance and accelerate the precipitation process. Especially in areas which have not seen any rain over a long time, such intense precipitation can lead to infiltration excess flow, with potential flash floods as a result,” the meteorologist said in a statement, as per Newsweek.

“The Dubai floods act as a stark warning of the unintended consequences we can unleash when we use such technology to alter the weather. Additionally, we have little control over the aftermath of cloud seeding. Where exactly is it going to be raining effectively? Using techniques such as cloud seeding to bring much-needed rainfall in one area can cause flash floods and droughts in another,” Mr Jaques further said.

There is no evidence to suggest that rain in Dubai was caused by cloud seeding. A UAE government agency that oversees the process has denied that any such operations took place before the storm.

The UAE state news agency late on Wednesday carried a statement from President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan saying he had ordered authorities to assess the damage and provide support to families impacted by the storm.