Dubai received a year’s worth of rain in a day on Tuesday, which led to intense flash flooding across.
The city that submerged the runway at the Dubai International Airport, making it look like an ocean, while roads turned to rivers and homes were inundated. The airport halted flight operations for nearly half an hour. The airport received nearly 100 mm of rain in just 12 hours on Tuesday and a total of 160 mm in the 24 hours. On average, Dubai city records about 88.9 mm of rain in a year.
In an advisory on Wednesday morning, the Dubai International Airport asked travellers to “check your flight status… and allow significant extra travel time to the airport”. Videos on social media showed the runway completely submerged. Large passenger jets looked more like boats as they moved along the flooded runway which resembled an ocean.
The Dubai website showed dozens of flights on Tuesday either delayed or cancelled, with affected destinations including India, Pakistan, Saudi and the UK. In a statement, Emirates airline said that multiple flights were delayed or cancelled as a result of the adverse weather.
Low-cost airline flydubai also confirmed that it had temporarily suspended all of its flights departing from Dubai until 10 am (local time) on Wednesday.
“All flydubai flights scheduled for departure from Dubai this evening (16 April) have been cancelled effective immediately until 10:00 (Dubai local time) on 17 April. During this period, passengers who do not have Dubai as their final destination will not be accepted for travel,” Reuters news agency quoted an airline spokesperson as saying in the statement.
On Tuesday morning, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) National Centre of Meteorology had issued a weather warning for large parts of the country, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. Dubai Police also issued advisories to avoid certain roads in the city due to flash flooding.
Meanwhile, other countries in the region also witnessed heavy rain and subsequent flooding.
In neighbouring Oman, at least 18 people have died as a result of flash floods triggered by intense rainfall. The victims included 10 students who were killed on April 14 when the vehicle they were travelling in was swept away by the strong currents while trying to cross a flooded area, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, in Bahrain, videos on social media showed vehicles stranded on flooded roads.