Several passengers were stranded as major flights were disrupted due to a heavy flood that hit the premises of Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
It was gathered that Dubai’s highways were clogged by floodwaters and passengers were urged to stay away from the airport as the glitzy financial centre reeled from record rains.
Several reports claimed that the country witnessed unprecedented rainfall with 254mm (10 inches) falling in Al Ain on Tuesday in less than 24 hours, according to the National Centre of Meteorology. That was the most since records began in 1949, before the country was established in 1971.
Although the torrential rains had subsided by late Tuesday, problems persisted on Wednesday, with Dubai’s flagship Emirates airline halting check-in for customers departing Dubai Airport until midnight.
“Flights continue to be delayed and diverted … We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions,” an airport spokesperson told Aljazeera.
The storms hit the UAE and Bahrain overnight Monday and on Tuesday after lashing Oman, where 18 people were killed, including several children.
Climatologist Friederike Otto, a specialist in assessing the role of climate change on extreme weather events, said it was “highly likely” that global warming had worsened the storms.
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