Chaos in Dubai as UAE records heaviest rainfall in 75 years
Chaos in Dubai as UAE records heaviest rainfall in 75 years
Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours, the state’s media office said in a statement Wednesday.
Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours, the state’s media office said in a statement Wednesday.
The rainfall, which flooded streets, uprooted palm trees and shattered building facades, has never been seen in the Middle Eastern nation since records began in 1949. In the popular tourist destination Dubai, flights were canceled, traffic came to a halt and schools closed.
One-hundred millimeters (nearly 4 inches) of rain fell over the course of just 12 hours on Tuesday, according to weather observations at the airport – around what Dubai usually records in an entire year, according to United Nations data.
The rain fell so heavily and so quickly that some motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles as the floodwater rose and roads turned into rivers.
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I looked at the vids of the airport in Dubai yesterday, and it was quite a show. What occurred to me is that they hadn't engineered for water runoff because it would rarely be needed. Sandy ground would soak up that stuff, but pave the same area and you have standing water without runoff.
Talked to a civil engineer a while back, and some of the ways they have to mitigate sand is the opposite of how they mitigate water. Makes it difficult to handle both situations with one solution.
That actually makes sense. During my teenage years surveying for the highway department, we used to have to take ground samples. I guess it was not in vain.
Sandy ground would soak up that stuff
This is kind of a myth, maybe if we think of loose sand like the Sahara, but dry ground acts very similar to paved ground. That's why the mixture of long droughts and heavy rainfall are so devastating. The rain just washes over the dried hardened ground and causes flooding instead of getting soaked up and filling the ground water reserves.
Dubai is bordered by the Arabian Desert
Yeah, but it isn't getting swallowed by dunes.
If you've ever been to that part of the world, it pretty much is.