- UAE experiences heaviest rainfall in 75 years, causing chaos
- At least one fatality as flooding disrupts air travel
- Cloud seeding speculation amid unprecedented weather event in UAE
Flights were disrupted at one of the busiest airports worldwide, and roadways and shopping centers were inundated as the United Arab Emirates experienced what the government termed its heaviest precipitation in seventy-five years.
At least one person was killed, a 70-year-old man who was swept away in his vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, according to police.
Photographs from Dubai International Airport captured city streets transformed into rivers, with abandoned automobiles submerged in floodwaters. Footage from the airport revealed passenger aircraft traversing through deep water while spraying water in their path.
One individual described the airport situation as “complete carnage.”
“It is impossible to hail a taxi.” Individuals are slumbering in the metro station. “People are sleeping in the airport,” the passenger told the Associated Press under the condition of anonymity in a country where critical speech is criminalized under strict legislation.
Although the consequences have been far-reaching, authorities have maintained a tight-lipped stance regarding the magnitude of the damage.
The precipitation commenced on Monday evening and peaked on Tuesday evening, sowing over 142mm (5.59in) – an average of what this arid metropolis receives once every fifteen months.
In addition to Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, where rescuers discovered the remains of a girl in Saham, heavy rainfall has claimed the lives of 19 people in the country since Sunday.
94.7mm (3.73in) of precipitation falls annually at Dubai International Airport, the busiest international airport globally and a hub for Emirates, the long-haul carrier. It reported experiencing “significant disruption” on Wednesday.
EgyptAir will suspend flights between Cairo and Dubai until conditions improve.
The airport’s CEO, Paul Griffiths, stated that the situation remained extremely difficult. “I don’t believe anyone in living memory has ever witnessed such conditions,” he told Dubai Eye, a state-owned talk radio station. We are venturing into uncharted territory.”
Certain media outlets speculated that cloud seeding, a prevalent method in the arid Emirates of Arabia wherein salt particles are frequently dispersed via aircraft to induce precipitation from clouds, contributed to the severity of the recent downpours. Due to the salt discharged during cloud-seeding operations, the likelihood of precipitation increases as water droplets form.
The National Centre for Meteorology (NCM), which is responsible for cloud-seeding operations in the UAE, informed CNBC that no seeding missions had been dispatched prior to or throughout the turbulent weather incident.
The deputy director general of the NCM, Omar Al Yazeedi, stated, “At this time, no seeding operations were conducted in response to the meteorological conditions. The fundamental principle of cloud seeding is to direct the formation of clouds before precipitation occurs. Participating in fertilizing endeavors amidst a scenario of intense thunderstorms would be unproductive.
Professor of atmospheric physics and dynamics at the University of Reading, Maarten Ambaum, reported that he had spoken with NCM meteorologists who denied the occurrence of cloud seeding.
“Cloud seeding is undoubtedly utilized in the Emirates to induce precipitation in clouds that do not ordinarily do so… “That would not typically result in the formation of a severe storm,” he continued, adding that attempting to fertilize clouds that were already inclined to generate downpours would be “completely futile.” “Even if you went out, it is impossible to discern a discernible difference.”
He further stated, “During the 1950s and 1960s, there was still some contemplation regarding the utilization of cloud seeding to induce or alter significant weather phenomena.” It has long been acknowledged that this is not a feasible prospect.
Occasional precipitation occurs during the milder winter months in the UAE.
In Dubai, abandoned vehicles and residences were inundated, and authorities dispatched tanker trucks into the streets to remove the standing water—the infrequent occurrence of consistent precipitation results in inadequate drainage in numerous roads and other locations.
Social media images documented flooding at the prominent retail centers of Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, and at least one Dubai Metro station was submerged to an ankle-deep depth.
Occasional lightning was observed illuminating the sky and touching the Burj Khalifa, the highest structure in the world.
Residents were encouraged by the NCM in a post on X to “take all necessary precautions… and avoid areas of flooding and water accumulation.”
The UAE government’s media office described the downpours as an “extraordinary” climatic event on X.
Authorities stated that schools in Dubai would remain closed until the following week, emphasizing the severity of the cleanup. Additionally, the government permitted its employees to work remotely.
Flooding across Bahrain and resulting in the loss of 19 lives in Oman, including ten pupils swept away in a vehicle, were consequences of the weather system.
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A collapse in the climate caused by humans is amplifying extreme weather events worldwide, resulting in more frequent and lethal catastrophes such as wildfires, heatwaves, and floods. Without human-caused global warming, at least a dozen catastrophic events of the past decade would have been virtually non-existent.
Extreme precipitation is more frequent and intense in most of the globe due to climate breakdown caused by humans. Because heated air can retain more water vapor, this is the case. As a consequence, flooding has almost certainly become more frequent and severe.
Ambaum predicted that more extreme weather phenomena would occur worldwide. He stated, “We have been predicting for decades that a changing climate will likely increase these types of catastrophic events, and this is precisely what is occurring.”
