Within a short window of only twenty-four hours, Dubai on Tuesday received rainfall worth a year leading to unusually intense flash flooding across the city. Several visuals are making rounds on social media showing Dubai International Airport's submerged runway which is almost looking like an ocean. This intense situation reportedly forced the airport to halt all operations for half an hour on Tuesday.
As per reports, the airport received a total of 160 mm of rain in the 24 hours while in general, Dubai city is known to record about 88.9 mm of rain in a year. Incessant rainfall has also inundated several roads and homes.
The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) National Centre of Meteorology yesterday had issued a weather warning for large parts of the country, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah while Dubai Police also issued required advisories asking commuters to avoid certain roads due to flash flooding.
Flights cancelled, airlines issue advisories
In light of the current scenario, the Dubai International Airport on Wednesday morning asked travellers to check their flight status and allow significant extra travel time to the airport. Dozens of flights to India, Pakistan, Saudi and the UK were either delayed or cancelled on Tuesday.
In a statement, Emirates airline said that multiple flights were delayed or cancelled as a result of the adverse weather.
Besides Emirates, flydubai also confirmed that it had temporarily suspended all of its flights departing from Dubai until 10 am (local time) on Wednesday.
"All flydubai flights scheduled for departure from Dubai this evening (16 April) have been cancelled effective immediately until 10:00 (Dubai local time) on 17 April. During this period, passengers who do not have Dubai as their final destination will not be accepted for travel," Reuters news agency quoted an airline spokesperson as saying in the statement.
18 dead in Oman as heavy rains continue
In neighbouring Oman, heavy rains claimed at least 18 lives. As per reports, the victims of the disaster included 10 students who were killed on April 14 when the vehicle they were travelling in was swept away by the strong currents.
Furthermore, in Bahrain as well vehicles are seen stranded on flooded roads.
