Dubai floods disrupt major airport operations as 'historic weather event' brings torrential rains to UAE

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – The desert nation of the United Arab Emirates struggled to dry up on Wednesday from the heaviest rain ever recorded there, as a flood inundated Dubai International Airport, disrupting travel through the world's busiest airport for international travel. State news agency WAM called Tuesday's rain “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since data collection began in 1949.”

The rains began late Monday, drenching the sands and streets of Dubai with about 0.79 inches of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail on the congested city.

Flooding has affected Dubai International Airport

By late Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rain had drenched Dubai over 24 hours. On average, just 3.73 inches of rain falls a year at Dubai International Airport, a hub for long-haul carrier Emirates.

At the airport, standing water covered the taxiways as the plane landed. Arrivals were halted on Tuesday night and passengers struggled to reach terminals through floodwaters that covered surrounding roads.

The airport said in a a series of posts on social networks that all operations were suspended for approximately 25 minutes on Tuesday afternoon and that all arrivals will be diverted after that “until weather conditions improve”. Late Wednesday morning, the airport and major carrier Emirates were still warning travelers not to come to the airport unless absolutely necessary, saying all flight control was still suspended.

“Flights continue to be delayed and diverted. Please check your flight status directly with your airline,” the airport said in a tweet. “We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions.”

One couple, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in a country with strict laws criminalizing critical speech, called the situation at the airport “absolute carnage.”

“You can't take a taxi. There are people sleeping at the subway station. There are people sleeping at the airport,” the man said Wednesday.

They ended up hailing a taxi near their home about 18 miles away, but flood water on the road stopped them. A passer-by helped them over a motorway barrier with their carry-on luggage, bottles of gin they picked up from a duty-free shop clinking away.

Paul Griffiths, the airport's CEO, acknowledged the ongoing problems with the flooding on Wednesday morning, saying every place a plane could park safely had been taken. Some planes were diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai World Central, the city-state's second airport.

“This remains an incredibly challenging time. In living memory, I don't think anyone has ever seen conditions like this,” Griffiths told state radio station Dubai Eye. “We are in uncharted territory but I can assure everyone that we are working as hard as possible to make sure our customers and staff are taken care of.”

Did “cloud seeding” contribute?

Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However, rainfall was severe across the UAE. One reason may have been “cloud seeding“, in which small government-operated planes fly through clouds burning special salt flares. These flares can increase rainfall.

Some reports quoted meteorologists at the National Weather Service as saying they had six or seven new flights ahead of the rains. The center did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday, although flight tracking data analyzed by the AP showed that a plane linked to the United Arab Emirates' cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country on Sunday.

The United Arab Emirates, which relies heavily on energy-hungry desalination plants to provide water, perform cloud seeding partly to augment the dwindling and limited groundwater.

Flooding closes schools across UAE

Schools across the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, were mostly closed ahead of the storm and government workers were mostly working remotely if they could. Many workers also stayed at home, although some ventured out, with those unfortunate enough to get their vehicles stuck in deeper-than-expected water that covered several roads.

Authorities sent tanker trucks to roads and highways to remove the water. Water poured into several houses, forcing people to escape from their homes.

The country's hereditary rulers did not provide any general information on damage or injuries to the nation as some people slept in their flooded vehicles on Tuesday night. In Ras al-Khaimah, the country's northernmost emirate, police said a 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.

Fujairah, an emirate on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, saw the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday with 5.7 inches falling there.

Authorities canceled school and the government set remote work again for Wednesday.

Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid nation on the Arabian Peninsula, but does occur periodically during the colder winter months. Many roads and other areas lack drainage due to lack of regular rainfall, causing flooding.

Meanwhile in neighboring Oman, a sultanate that sits on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 19 people were killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement Wednesday from the country's National Committee for Emergency Management. This involved about 10 schoolchildren being driven away in a vehicle with an adult, prompting condolences from rulers across the region.

Climatologists have warned for years that this is human-driven climate change is feeding more extreme and less predictable weather events around the globe.

Parts of southern Russia and central Asia have also faced extremely damaging amounts of rainfall and snowmelt for days, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate to higher ground and killing more than 60 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.