A torrential downpour has left Dubai’s highways clogged by floodwaters and passengers had been urged to steer clear of the airport because the glitzy monetary centre reeled from file rains.
The United Arab Emirates witnessed unprecedented rainfall with 254mm (10 inches) falling in Al Ain on Tuesday in lower than 24 hours, in response to the Nationwide Centre of Meteorology. That was probably the most since data started in 1949, earlier than the nation was established in 1971.
Though the heavy rains had eased by late Tuesday, disruptions had been persevering with on Wednesday with Dubai’s flagship Emirates airways suspending check-in for passengers departing Dubai airport till midnight.
Dubai Worldwide Airport, one of many world’s busiest, stated it was going through vital disruptions after the rains delayed or diverted flights.
“Flights proceed to be delayed and diverted … We’re working onerous to get better operations as shortly as attainable in very difficult circumstances,” an airport spokesperson stated.
Workers and passengers struggled to reach and depart the airport, with entry roads flooded and a few metro providers suspended.
Big tailbacks snaked alongside six-lane expressways. A 70-year-old man died after he was swept away in his automotive in Ras Al Khaimah, one of many nation’s seven emirates, police stated.
The storms hit the UAE and Bahrain in a single day Monday and on Tuesday after lashing Oman, the place 18 folks had been killed, together with a number of kids.
Climatologist Friederike Otto, a specialist in assessing the position of local weather change on excessive climate occasions, stated it was “extremely probably” that world warming had worsened the storms.