Dubai: Heavy rains have hit the United Arab Emirates, flooding major highways and disrupting flights at Dubai international airport – in what the government has described as the largest amount of rainfall in the past 75 years.
The rains began on Monday night, and by Tuesday evening, more than 142mm (5.59in) had soaked the desert city of Dubai – normally the average amount it gets in a year and a half.
An average year sees 94.7 millimeters — or 3.73 inches — of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.
Some inland areas of the UAE recorded more than 80mm (3.2in) of rain over 24 hours to 8am Tuesday, approaching the annual average of about 100mm. Rain is unusual in the UAE, on the arid Arabian Peninsula, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months.
Homes were flooded and vehicles were abandoned on roadways across Dubai as authorities sent tanker trucks into the streets to pump away the water. Many roads and other areas lack drainage given the lack of regular rainfall.
