AT LEAST one person has died amid torrential rain and flooding that drowned an airport, malls, and train stations and left Dubai paralysed.
The desert nation of the United Arab Emirates is reeling today after the heaviest rain ever recorded wiped out its millionaire playground.
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Planes were yesterday seen swimming in floodwater at the world’s busiest airport, Dubai International, as flights were diverted through the afternoon and evening.
Dramatic pictures and video showed shopping centres swamped and busy roads resembling rushing rivers dotted with halted cars.
People trudged through ankle-deep water in a metro station, and on roads as they attempted to push their flooded cars to higher ground.
It was an historic weather event bigger than any ever previously recorded in Dubai, where data collection began in 1949, according to state-run WAM news agency.
Read more on the flooding
Twenty-one outbound and 24 inbound flights were cancelled at Dubai International Airport (DXB) on Tuesday, with many other flights diverted to other neighbouring airports.
DXB was still affected on Wednesday morning, writing on X at 9am local time: “We advise you NOT to come to the airport, unless absolutely necessary.
“Flights continue to be delayed and diverted. Please check your flight status directly with your airline.
“We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions.”
Paul Griffiths, the airport’s CEO, added this morning that every place an aircraft could be safely parked was taken.
Some planes were diverted to Dubai’s second airfield, Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central.
Mr Griffiths told radio station Dubai Eye: “It remains an incredibly challenging time.
“In living memory, I don’t think anyone has ever seen conditions like it.
“We are in uncharted territory, but I can assure everyone we are working as hard as we possibly can to make sure our customers and staff are looked after.”
The rains were acute across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
They began late Monday and soaked the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 0.79 inches of rain before the raging storm intensified – dumping rain and hail – about 9am local time on Tuesday.
By the end of the day, some 5.59 inches of rainfall had soaked Dubai in just 24 hours – more than is ordinarily seen in an entire year (3.73 inches at DXB).
Two locals affected by the rain told AP, on condition of anonymity, that the situation at the airport was absolute carnage.
The couple said: “You cannot get a taxi. There’s people sleeping in the Metro station. There’s people sleeping in the airport.”
What caused the heavy rain in Dubai?
A DELUGE of rain flooded Dubai on Tuesday, leaving at least one person dead and causing major disruption at the world’s busiest airfield.
The true cause of the heavy rain is not yet known, but some have theorised it may have been the result of cloud-seeding.
Cloud-seeding is carried out in the UAE in part to increase the desert nation’s dwindling and limited groundwater supply, according to the AP.
The weather modification technique involves small planes being flown through clouds while burning special salt flares that can increase precipitation.
Meteorologists at the National Centre for Meteorology said they flew six or seven cloud-seeding flights before the rains commenced, according to reports.
And flight-tracking data analysed by the AP reportedly showed that one aircraft affiliated with the UAE’s cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country on Sunday.
A lack of drainage on roads and in other areas of the UAE – due to the irregularity of rain – are believed to have worsened the flooding.
They later managed to get a taxi to near their home some 18 miles away – before floodwater on the road saw them grind to a halt.
A bystander was said to have helped them over a highway barrier with their luggage.
Schools across the UAE were largely shut yesterday and government employees, and other workers, urged to work remotely if able – both on Tuesday and again on Wednesday.
Tanker trucks worked in the streets and highways to pump away water, as flooding reached peoples homes and forced them outside.
Some have theorised the unusual weather event could have been the result of cloud seeding, a weather modification technique used to increase precipitation, although the true cause remains unconfirmed.
Cloud seeding generally involves the government flying small planes through clouds which burn salt flares that can increase precipitation.
Being a desert country, the UAE conducts cloud-seeding in part to increase its limited groundwater, according to the Associated Press.
Rain, although uncommon in the UAE, does occur periodically during the cooler winter months.
A lack of drainage on roads and in other areas – due to the irregularity of rain – are believed to have worsened the flooding.
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