Dubai, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates struggled to recover from the heaviest rainfall on record in the desert country on Thursday, as its main airport struggled to restore normal operations, although floodwaters still covered parts of the main highways and roads.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, allowed international carriers to once again serve the airfield’s Terminal 1 on Thursday morning.
“Flights continue to be delayed and disrupted, so we invite you to only come to Terminal 1 if you have a confirmed reservation,” the airport said on the social platform X.
Long-haul carrier Emirates, whose operations have been struggling since Tuesday’s storm, had blocked travelers from the United Arab Emirates from checking in on their flights as it tried to get connecting passengers out. Pilots and crews were having difficulty reaching the airport due to water on the roads. But on Thursday, they lifted that order to allow customers to enter the airport.
Others who arrived at the airport described waiting hours to collect their luggage, with some simply giving up on going home or to whatever hotel would accommodate them.
The United Arab Emirates, a hereditary autocratic nation located on the Arabian Peninsula, generally experiences little precipitation in its arid desert climate. However, a massive storm, predicted for days by forecasters, hit the country’s seven emirates.
By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimeters of rain had flooded Dubai in 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimeters (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport. Other parts of the country saw even more rainfall.
The UAE’s drainage systems were quickly overwhelmed, flooding neighborhoods, business districts and even portions of the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road highway that runs through Dubai.
The official WAM news agency called the rain a “historic meteorological event” that surpassed “anything documented since data collection began in 1949.”
In a message to the nation on Wednesday evening, Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, said authorities would “work expeditiously to study the state of infrastructure across the UAE and to limit the damage caused.
On Thursday, people waded through oil-covered floodwaters to reach cars abandoned earlier, checking to see if their engines were still running. Tanker trucks equipped with vacuum cleaners have also started reaching some areas outside of downtown Dubai for the first time. Schools remain closed until next week.
Authorities provided no overall information on damage or injuries from the flooding, which killed at least one person.
“Crises reveal the strength of countries and societies,” Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wrote on X. “The natural climate crisis we have experienced has shown the great care, awareness, cohesion and love shown to every corner of the country, from all its citizens and residents.
The flooding has sparked speculation that the UAE’s aggressive cloud-seeding campaign – flying small planes through clouds dispersing chemicals intended to make rain fall – may have could have contributed to the flood. But experts said the storm systems that produced the rain were predicted well in advance and cloud seeding alone would not have caused such flooding.
Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, said the flooding in Dubai was caused by an unusually strong low-pressure system that brought many severe thunderstorms.
Scientists also say that climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires around the world. Last year, Dubai hosted the UN COP28 climate negotiations.
Abu Dhabi’s official newspaper, The National, described the heavy rains in an editorial on Thursday as a warning to countries in the Persian Gulf region to “protect their future from climate change.”
“The scale of this task is more difficult than it appears at first glance, because such changes involve modifying the urban environment of a region which, since it was inhabited, has only known heat and sand,” the newspaper said. .
ABC News
