DUBAI: Dubai’s main worldwide airport diverted scores of incoming flights on Tuesday as heavy rains lashed the United Arab Emirates, inflicting widespread flooding across the desert nation.
The world’s busiest air hub for worldwide passengers confirmed a halt to arrivals at 7:26 pm (1526 GMT) earlier than saying a “gradual resumption” greater than two hours later.
Earlier the airport, which had been anticipating greater than 100 flight arrivals on Tuesday night, took the equally uncommon step of briefly halting its operations within the chaos attributable to the storm.
Dubai, the Center East’s monetary centre, has been paralysed by the torrential rain that precipitated floods throughout the UAE and Bahrain, and left 18 lifeless in Oman on Sunday and Monday.
Dubai airport operations had been suspended for 25 minutes within the afternoon earlier than resuming. Unconfirmed pictures on social media confirmed planes taxiing throughout an apron flooded with standing water.
Departure flights remained in operation through the night however had been plagued with delays and cancellations. Entry roads to the airport had been additionally badly flooded.
Related scenes had been repeated throughout Dubai and elsewhere within the UAE because the oil-rich Gulf state, higher identified for its arid local weather and intense summer season warmth, reeled from the storm.
Each the Oman and the UAE, which hosted final yr’s COP28 UN local weather talks, have beforehand warned that world warming is prone to result in extra flooding.
Friederike Otto, a frontrunner within the subject of assessing the function of local weather change on particular excessive climate occasions, stated it was possible that world warming performed an element.
“It’s extremely possible that the lethal and damaging rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused local weather change,” stated Otto, of the Grantham Institute for Local weather Change at Imperial School London.
Rain ‘scares me’
Flagship procuring centres Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates each suffered flooding and water was ankle-deep in not less than one Dubai Metro station, in response to pictures posted on social media.
Some roads collapsed, residential communities had been hit by heavy flooding and plenty of house owners reported leaks from roofs, doorways and home windows.
Faculties had been shut throughout the UAE and had been anticipated to stay closed on Wednesday, when additional storms are forecast. Dubai’s authorities additionally prolonged distant working for its staff into Wednesday.
Some inland areas of the UAE recorded greater than 80 millimetres (3.2 inches) of rain over 24 hours to eight:00 am, approaching the annual common of about 100mm.
The Nationwide Middle for Meteorology “urged residents to take all of the precautions… and to steer clear of areas of flooding and water accumulation” in a submit on X, previously Twitter.
The Asian Champions League soccer semi-final between the UAE’s Al Ain and Saudi facet Al Hilal, attributable to be hosted in Al Ain, was postponed for twenty-four hours due to the climate.
Bahrain, to the UAE’s north-west, was additionally hit by heavy rain and flooding after being pummelled by thunder and lightning in a single day.
“I wish to play within the rain, however for the primary time it scares me,” stated nine-year-old Ali Hassan, as he helped his mom clear water from outdoors their home in Bahrain’s capital Manama.
The storms descended on the UAE, Bahrain and elements of Qatar after hitting Oman, the place they precipitated lethal floods and left dozens stranded.
A toddler’s physique was recovered on Tuesday, bringing the demise toll to 18 with two individuals lacking, emergency authorities advised the official Oman Information Company.
9 schoolchildren and three adults died when their automobiles had been swept away in flash floods, the information company reported on Sunday.
The world’s busiest air hub for worldwide passengers confirmed a halt to arrivals at 7:26 pm (1526 GMT) earlier than saying a “gradual resumption” greater than two hours later.
Earlier the airport, which had been anticipating greater than 100 flight arrivals on Tuesday night, took the equally uncommon step of briefly halting its operations within the chaos attributable to the storm.
Dubai, the Center East’s monetary centre, has been paralysed by the torrential rain that precipitated floods throughout the UAE and Bahrain, and left 18 lifeless in Oman on Sunday and Monday.
Dubai airport operations had been suspended for 25 minutes within the afternoon earlier than resuming. Unconfirmed pictures on social media confirmed planes taxiing throughout an apron flooded with standing water.
Departure flights remained in operation through the night however had been plagued with delays and cancellations. Entry roads to the airport had been additionally badly flooded.
Related scenes had been repeated throughout Dubai and elsewhere within the UAE because the oil-rich Gulf state, higher identified for its arid local weather and intense summer season warmth, reeled from the storm.
Each the Oman and the UAE, which hosted final yr’s COP28 UN local weather talks, have beforehand warned that world warming is prone to result in extra flooding.
Friederike Otto, a frontrunner within the subject of assessing the function of local weather change on particular excessive climate occasions, stated it was possible that world warming performed an element.
“It’s extremely possible that the lethal and damaging rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused local weather change,” stated Otto, of the Grantham Institute for Local weather Change at Imperial School London.
Rain ‘scares me’
Flagship procuring centres Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates each suffered flooding and water was ankle-deep in not less than one Dubai Metro station, in response to pictures posted on social media.
Some roads collapsed, residential communities had been hit by heavy flooding and plenty of house owners reported leaks from roofs, doorways and home windows.
Faculties had been shut throughout the UAE and had been anticipated to stay closed on Wednesday, when additional storms are forecast. Dubai’s authorities additionally prolonged distant working for its staff into Wednesday.
Some inland areas of the UAE recorded greater than 80 millimetres (3.2 inches) of rain over 24 hours to eight:00 am, approaching the annual common of about 100mm.
The Nationwide Middle for Meteorology “urged residents to take all of the precautions… and to steer clear of areas of flooding and water accumulation” in a submit on X, previously Twitter.
The Asian Champions League soccer semi-final between the UAE’s Al Ain and Saudi facet Al Hilal, attributable to be hosted in Al Ain, was postponed for twenty-four hours due to the climate.
Bahrain, to the UAE’s north-west, was additionally hit by heavy rain and flooding after being pummelled by thunder and lightning in a single day.
“I wish to play within the rain, however for the primary time it scares me,” stated nine-year-old Ali Hassan, as he helped his mom clear water from outdoors their home in Bahrain’s capital Manama.
The storms descended on the UAE, Bahrain and elements of Qatar after hitting Oman, the place they precipitated lethal floods and left dozens stranded.
A toddler’s physique was recovered on Tuesday, bringing the demise toll to 18 with two individuals lacking, emergency authorities advised the official Oman Information Company.
9 schoolchildren and three adults died when their automobiles had been swept away in flash floods, the information company reported on Sunday.
