Schools and many offices were closed across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday as heavy rainfall returned to the desert country just two weeks after record downpours that experts linked to climate change.
Jerrymusa.com reports that the National Centre of Meteorology reported that more than 50 millimetres (two inches) of rain fell in certain places before 8:00 a.m.
Parts of Dubai, the world’s financial centre, saw flooding, and the airport there—the busiest for international passenger traffic – had to cancel 13 flights and divert five more, according to a spokeswoman.
Airline Delays Flight
Passengers were advised of delays by state-owned Emirates and sibling airline FlyDubai, based in Dubai, as public sector offices closed and schools shifted to online learning.
However, the amount of rain was not as much as it was on April 16, when a record 259.5 mm of rain caused massive road closures for days, four fatalities, and the cancellation of over 2,000 flights.
On Thursday, the normally busy six-lane highways in Dubai saw very little traffic, and vehicles were left abandoned on flooded roadways close to the expansive Ibn Battuta mall.
Numerous flooded locations had water-pumping trucks positioned there since Dubai’s drainage system frequently cannot handle heavy precipitation.
The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms with a majority of expatriates, experienced its greatest rainfall since 1949 during the downpour that occurred last month, which also claimed the lives of 21 people in adjacent Oman.
According to World Weather Attribution, a scientific network that evaluates how climate change affects extreme weather occurrences, the deluge was “most likely” made worse by global warming brought on by the use of fossil fuel.
There was practically little traffic on Dubai’s typically busy six-lane motorways on Thursday, and several abandoned cars were seen on flooded roadways close to the expansive Ibn Battuta mall.
Water-pumping trucks were stationed at several flooded places because Dubai’s drainage system is often unable to handle significant precipitation.
The rainstorm that occurred last month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of seven sheikhdoms primarily populated by expatriates, was the most intense since 1949 and also resulted in the deaths of twenty-one individuals in neighbouring Oman.
A scientific network called World Weather Attribution assesses the impact of climate change on extreme weather events, and it concludes that the deluge was “most likely” exacerbated by global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels.