They report storms equivalent to a year and a half in 24 hours – El Financiero

Strong thunderstorms hit the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, dumping more than a year and a half of rain on the desert city-state of Dubai in just a few hours, causing flooding on several roads and its international airport.

The rains began on Monday night, drenching Dubai’s sand and roads with regarding 20 millimeters of rain, according to weather data collected at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified Tuesday at 9 a.m. local time and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail on the overwhelmed city.

By the end of the day, more than 142 millimeters of rain had soaked the streets in a matter of 24 hours. An average year records 94.7 millimeters of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and the hub of Emirates airline operations.

At the airport, puddles of water splashed across the runways as planes landed.

Airports, the emirate’s airport manager, issued an alert announcing that “operations continue to be significantly disrupted at Dubai International Airport due to heavy rain and flooding.”

In the note, the company stated that “due to the intense storm, operations were temporarily suspended for 25 minutes this followingnoon,” but noted that operations later slowly restarted.

”A total of 21 outbound and 24 arrival flights have been canceled since 12:02 local time (08:02 GMT) this morning, and three flights were diverted to other neighboring airports,” he reported.

Police and emergency personnel drove slowly through the flooded streets of Dubai, their emergency lights illuminating the dark roads. Lightning streaked across the sky, occasionally grazing the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The city’s driverless subway also suffered disruptions and there were flooded stations.

Schools across the UAE suspended classes ahead of the storm, and government employees worked from home if they might. Many workers stayed at home, although some ventured out, with the bad luck that their vehicles stalled in deeper-than-expected water covering some roads.

Rainfall is unusual in the UAE, an arid nation on the Arabian Peninsula, but occurs periodically during the colder winter months. Due to the lack of regular rainfall, many roads and other areas lack drainage, causing flooding.

In neighboring Oman, a sultanate that sits at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 18 people had died due to heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the National Management Committee. of Emergencies. That includes regarding 10 schoolchildren dragged in a vehicle with an adult.

Rains were also recorded in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

-With information from AP and EFE.