Vehicles wading through waist-deep floodwaters, flooded shopping malls – Dubai woke up to such startling scenes on Friday morning after torrential rains lashed the Arab city. The images, more common in India’s capital Delhi, Mumbai during the rainy season, were set in the desert metropolis and sparked a wave of comparisons between the cities from social media users.
“This is not Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati… Dubai early this morning. Vehicles are swimming in flood water in Dubai’s Al Barsha 1 after heavy rain,” one social media user wrote on X, along with several shots of heavily waterlogged streets.
Dubai’s usual glittering skyline of skyscrapers gave way to the disturbing sight of submerged roads, with people trying to push their vehicles through heavily waterlogged streets.
Another video on social media shows flooding at the Mall of the Emirates. Mall employees later cleaned up the affected area, according to the video.
In Sharjah, the main street of a neighboring city was completely submerged in the early hours, with residents wading through floodwaters barefoot. One man was even seen cycling through the deluge with water rising almost to the top of his wheels, an AFP report said.
Dubai floods – Emirates axis 13 flights; delays follow
Airport authorities in the United Arab Emirates were forced to cancel or delay dozens of flights on Friday as the desert state was lashed by the heaviest rain in months, flooding roads across major cities.
Dubai’s Emirates airline canceled 13 flights, while neighboring Sharjah Airport also reported numerous delays and cancellations after an overnight downpour woke residents to lightning and rumbling thunder.
As the storm approached on Thursday, Dubai Police urged residents to stay indoors unless travel was “absolutely necessary”. Early on Friday, water pumping trucks were deployed around the city to clear blocked roads and large pools of standing water.
The Dubai Airports website showed dozens of flights delayed on Friday, with several cancellations. “Some flights are canceled or delayed due to bad weather,” the spokesman said.
The National Meteorological Center had earlier warned of rain in the UAE from Thursday to Friday, including Dubai and the capital Abu Dhabi.
The scenes brought back memories of April 2024, when record rainfall caused widespread flooding and led to the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights at Dubai’s main international airport.
UAE weather forecast
According to a Gulf News report, the National Meteorological Center has predicted partly clear skies on Saturday and predicted the formation of convective clouds bringing rainfall to parts of the country, especially the northern part of the UAE.
In its daily weather bulletin, the center said winds will be light to fresh on Saturday, increasing at times with clouds and raising dust and sand.
