On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates experienced the heaviest rain in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 millimetres of precipitation in less than 24 hours.
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The state’s media office reported that the rainfall, which started on Monday night, resulted in flooded streets, uprooted palm trees and shattered building facades. Schools were closed, flights were cancelled and traffic came to a standstill, CNN reports. It is the most rainfall to occur since records began in 1949.
About 100 millimetres of rain fell within 12 hours on Tuesday. This is the equivalent of what Dubai typically records within an entire year.
As reported by CNN, extreme weather events such as these are becoming more common due to human-driven climate change because a warmer atmosphere soaks up more moisture and releases it in the form of flooding rainfall.
Dubai’s weather conditions follow a larger storm system that is moving across the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf of Oman, where unusually wet weather is expected in Oman and southeastern Iran.
The country’s National Committee for Emergency Management reported that at least 18 people, including schoolchildren, were killed in flash floods in Oman.
According to a police statement, a 70-year-old man died after flooding swept his vehicle in Ras Al-Khaimah.
On Wednesday, the rainfall continued to move east, affecting parts of Iran and Pakistan. These areas typically do not experience much rainfall this time of the year. About 130 millimetres of rain was recorded in Chabahar in the Sistan and Baluchestan provinces.
Dubai Airport, which recently clinched the title of the second-busiest airport in the world, was completely flooded.
Watch:
شاهد.. ارتفاع منسوب المياه بمطار #دبي#منخفض_الهدير pic.twitter.com/8gswSzbJKJ
— العربية الإمارات (@AlArabiyaUAE) April 16, 2024
Operational disruptions continued on Wednesday as access roads were blocked by flooding and multiple flight delays were reported.
Dubai International advised travellers not to come to the airport unless ‘absolutely necessary’.
On Wednesday, Emirates suspended check-in for passengers departing Dubai from 8am until midnight on Thursday due to ‘operational challenges caused by bad weather and road conditions’.
In response to rumours that the severe weather was man-made, the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology stated that the rain was not caused by cloud seeding.
Cloud seeding is typically meant to increase rainfall in arid or semi-arid regions. It entails the ‘seeding’ of existing clouds with substances that help the clouds induce rain. The UAE has been cloud-seeding since the 1990s.
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