The United Arab Emirates continues to suffer from flooding brought on by the heaviest rainfall ever recorded within the desert state. Airlines, banks and concrete transport are facing significant disruptions and repair outages.
For a couple of 12 months, it rained in only 12 hours across the normally bone-dry Gulf country. And in lots of homes and businesses in Dubai and other emirates, running water and electricity not work.
“The shower doesn't work.” “Can't flush the toilet.” “Nothing comes out of the taps.” These and other similar messages flooded WhatsApp groups in Dubai on Wednesday and Thursday as many villa residents, greater than 30, were stuck inside cm of water flooded the streets in front of their houses and submerged their cars.
A widely circulated message urged: “Do NOT walk through flooded areas or touch metal objects on the ground while in water,” warning of electrocution. But with their cars out of service and taxis avoiding flooded areas, some residents running out of food still ventured out to purchase groceries.
“Wear sneakers and shorts and bring a backpack to bring back your food,” advised a resident of the upscale Al Manara neighborhood. Video footage from some neighborhoods showed locals using surfboards and even jet skis to get around. Beiruti Flame Grill, a neighborhood Lebanese restaurant, was one in every of many Dubai businesses that went completely underground – its employees using a raft to get across the neighborhood.
“Some friends of ours lost almost everything – houses up to their waists in water. It was terrible for a lot of people,” a neighborhood resident, who didn’t wish to be named attributable to work restrictions, told CNBC.
For others, the weather disaster has brought out the perfect of their communities.
“Our community has been really great, coming together and helping each other wherever they can,” Samantha Denichaud, a Dubai-based exercise therapist, told CNBC. “I think it was a time when neighbors who otherwise would never have come into contact got to know each other. It was terrible, but also strangely amazing.”
She described how residents prepared meals and donated blankets and toiletries to security and maintenance personnel who were unable to return to their homes.
More than 100mm of rain fell in some parts of the United Arab Emirates between Tuesday and Wednesday – a 75-year record because the country began recording rainfall, in keeping with the country's National Center for Meteorology. The government issued one on Tuesday red warning, formwork offices, schools and banks across the country. The National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Authority warned Residents should stay home and park their vehicles in elevated areas away from flood-prone areas.
Hundreds of cars were left abandoned on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Highway when drivers' engines stalled as water rose around them. The city's subway became an impromptu overnight stop as people working in and around some stations were unable to get home.
While water levels are falling in some areas and parts of the town are completely dry, some are still too flooded for maintenance and repair services to access. Police cars block certain streets deemed too dangerous while pump trucks work to clear the streets of water.
A large clean-up operation is underway and can have to proceed for a while. The UAE Interior Ministry announced the “end of weather fluctuations” on Wednesday evening and said efforts would proceed to “complete the recovery phase.” The response teams on site will “continue their intensive efforts to ensure a full recovery and return to normal life in all affected areas,” the ministry statement said.
There was chaos at Dubai airport as frustrated travelers were told they may not fly. The airport urged travelers to only come to the airport if absolutely needed and suspended check-in until Thursday morning.
For those that landed before incoming flights were suspended, returning home was also difficult.
“The airport staff told everyone to get on the subway for two stops and then transfer to the replacement bus… We got there and there was no replacement service,” a British Dubai resident coming back from a vacation told CNBC. “It seemed like the airport was just trying to dump the bodies later… eventually our buddy came with a pickup truck and took us home.”
In a press release, a Dubai Airport spokesperson said the airport was “working to restore operations as quickly as possible under these difficult circumstances” and said that “due to overcrowding, access to Terminal 1 is now strictly limited to passengers with confirmed departures.” “. It added that “no rebooking options are available at the terminal.”
Many others are still stuck abroad as a wave of travelers headed home this week after the Eid holiday at the tip of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Customers complained to
“Due to the heavy rainfall in Dubai, our contact centers are experiencing high volumes of contact and there may be long wait times before we can respond to you,” said a notice on the Emirates Airline website, asking customers to Avoid calling in case your flight doesn't happen in the subsequent 48 hours.
For Fanny Balleuil, a Frenchwoman living within the United Arab Emirates, the proven fact that she is stuck in Bahrain – where she was rerouted on the way in which back to Dubai – is something of a blessing in disguise. Her roommates told her that her room was completely flooded; It is uninhabitable until the water is pumped out by maintenance employees, who is not going to have access to their neighborhood until Friday on the earliest.
“My flight was canceled – I'm stuck in Bahrain and it's actually a sweet country,” she said. “I would never have been there without that happening!”
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