CNN
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A year’s worth of rain triggered huge flash floods in Dubai on Tuesday, as roads turned into rivers and rushing waters inundated homes and businesses.
Shocking video shows the tarmac at Dubai International Airport – recently crowned the world’s second busiest airport – underwater as huge planes attempt to navigate floodwaters. The large jets looked more like boats moving through the flooded airport, as water gushed in their wake and waves rippled in the deep waters.
The airport halted operations for nearly half an hour on Tuesday. “Operations continue to be significantly disrupted,” the airport confirmed in an advisory. “There is significant flooding on access roads around Dubai leading to the airport.”
Nearly 100 mm of rain fell in just 12 hours on Tuesday, according to airport weather observations – about what Dubai measures in an entire year, according to United Nations data.
The rain fell so hard and so quickly that some motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles as floodwaters rose and roads turned into rivers.
A video posted on social media showed water rushing through a shopping center and flooding the ground floors of homes.
Dubai, like the rest of the United Arab Emirates, enjoys a hot and dry climate. Precipitation is therefore rare and the infrastructure is not in place to cope with extreme events.
When it rained on Tuesday, it was absolutely raining.
Torrential rainfall like this will become more frequent due to human-caused climate change. As the atmosphere continues to warm, it is able to absorb more moisture like a towel and then release it in the form of more extreme rain sprays.
The rain that left Dubai underwater is associated with a larger storm system crossing the Arabian Peninsula and moving across the Gulf of Oman. This same system also brings unusually wet weather to neighboring Oman and southeastern Iran.
Rain will ease across the region Tuesday evening, but a few showers could persist into Wednesday before dry weather returns.
