Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The UAE, a desert nation, grappled with the aftermath of the most intense rainfall on record, causing widespread flooding, including at Dubai International Airport. This disrupted flights at the world’s busiest airfield for international travel.
State-run WAM news agency described Tuesday’s rainfall as “a historic weather event,” surpassing records dating back to 1949. This predates the discovery of crude oil in the nation, then known as the Trucial States under British protection.
Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, but the UAE experienced particularly severe conditions.
One potential factor behind the heavy rainfall is “cloud seeding,” a process where government-operated aircraft release special salt flares into clouds to induce precipitation.
Meteorologists at the National Center for Meteorology reportedly conducted six or seven cloud-seeding flights before the rains. Flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed one aircraft affiliated with UAE’s cloud-seeding efforts flying across the country on Monday.
The National, an English-language, state-linked newspaper in Abu Dhabi, quoted an anonymous official at the center on Wednesday as saying no cloud seeding took place on Tuesday, without acknowledging any earlier flights.
The center did not respond to questions Wednesday from the AP.
The UAE, which heavily relies on energy-hungry desalination plants to provide water, conducts cloud seeding in part to increase its dwindling, limited groundwater.
Scientists assert that climate change is responsible for increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events worldwide, including storms, droughts, floods, and wildfires. Last year, Dubai hosted the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks, highlighting the urgency of addressing these challenges. Rising temperatures and other effects of global warming have long been recognized as threats to life in the region, which is already experiencing high temperatures.
The rainfall began late Monday, saturating the sands and roads of Dubai with approximately 20 millimeters (0.79 inches) of rain, as recorded at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday and persisted throughout the day, unleashing more rain and hail on the overwhelmed city.
By the end of Tuesday, Dubai had received over 142 millimeters (5.59 inches) of rainfall within 24 hours. This is significantly higher than the average annual precipitation of 94.7 millimeters (3.73 inches) recorded at Dubai International Airport, a major hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.
At the airport, standing water flooded taxiways, impacting aircraft landings. Arrivals were halted Tuesday night, leaving passengers struggling to navigate flooded roads to reach terminals.
One couple, speaking anonymously to the AP due to strict laws against criticism, described the airport as “absolute carnage.”
“Getting a taxi was impossible. People were sleeping in the Metro station and at the airport,” the man stated on Wednesday.
Attempting to travel the 30 kilometers (18 miles) to their home, they encountered flooded roads. A bystander assisted them over a highway barrier with their carry-on luggage, the bottles of gin they purchased from duty-free clinking as they went.
