Heavy thunderstorms hit the United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf region on Monday and Tuesday as the desert city of Dubai was drenched in more than a year and half’s worth of rain that flooded major highways, damaged buildings and disrupted flights.
The rain began on Monday night and by Tuesday evening, more than 142mm (5.6 inches) had soaked Dubai. As rain is uncommon in the UAE even during the winter months, there is a lack of infrastructure to handle floods, which are expected to become more frequent due to human-driven climate change as the warmer atmosphere retains more moisture before a downpour.
The National Center of Meteorology said in a statement that the downpour was the largest amount of rainfall the UAE has experienced since data collection started 75 years ago. Weather observers recorded that 100mm (3.9 inches) of rain fell in just 12 hours Tuesday, Dubai’s typical total for an entire year, according to United Nations data.
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