Heavy rain hits UAE, schools and offices shut due to waterlogged roads. Dubai airport witnesses flight disruptions

Cars are parked at a flooded street during a rain storm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Heavy rain lashed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday, leading to waterlogged roads. Several portions of Dubai were flooded due to waterlogging after downpour, AP reported. The flight operations at Dubai airport were briefly suspended due to intense storm.

“Due to the intense storm, operations at @DXB were temporarily suspended for 25 minutes, but have since recommenced. There is major flooding on roads leading to the airport and forecasts indicate that the unsettled weather will continue till tomorrow morning,” the Dubai International Airport’s X handle posted.

“Remember to check your flight status with your airline, allow significant extra travel time to the airport and use the Dubai Metro for smoother transit,” the notification read.

According to an AP report, the world’s busiest airport witnessed flight disruptions after the rains began overnight. By the evening, over 120 millimeters (4.75 inches) of rainfall had soaked the city-state — the typical average for a year in the desert nation — with more expected in the coming hours.

The police and emergency personnel drove slowly through the flooded streets. Lightning flashed across the sky and occasionally touched the tip of Burj Khalifa, the report added.

Schools across the UAE were largely shut and government employees were working from home. Some employees ventured out, with rain leaving their vehicles in deeper-than-expected water covering some roads.

Authorities sent tanker trucks out into the streets and highways to pump away the water. Water poured into some homes, forcing people to bail out their houses.

Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months. Many roads and other areas lack drainage given the lack of regular rainfall, causing flooding.

In neighbouring Oman, a sultanate that rests on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 18 people had been killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement Tuesday from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management. That includes some 10 schoolchildren swept away in a vehicle with an adult, which saw condolences come into the country from rulers across the region.

(With AP inputs)

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