• The clean-up operation was in full swing in Dubai on Sunday after the storm. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National
    The clean-up operation was in full swing in Dubai on Sunday after the storm. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National
  • Torrential rain led to localised flooding in parts of Dubai and across the UAE.
    Torrential rain led to localised flooding in parts of Dubai and across the UAE.
  • Water tankers were used to remove standing water in Dubai after the downpours.
    Water tankers were used to remove standing water in Dubai after the downpours.
  • Authorities had prepared for the storm and water pumps were deployed swiftly.
    Authorities had prepared for the storm and water pumps were deployed swiftly.
  • Flood waters were pumped from roads in Dubai.
    Flood waters were pumped from roads in Dubai.

Six months' worth of rain falls on UAE in four days


  • English
  • Arabic

About six months' worth of rain fell across the UAE over the weekend after a major storm swept through most parts of the country.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said on Sunday that almost 60mm of rain fell in Dubai, while 78mm – the highest recorded in the country – fell over Khatam Al Shaklah in Abu Dhabi.

In the Fujairah neighbourhood of Al FarFar, 77.4mm of rain fell, while 25.4mm fell in Al Ain, the bureau said.

The UAE's average rainfall is less than 100mm a year.

Our main focus has been rescuing individuals trapped in their homes or vehicles
Brig Sami Al Naqbi,
Sharjah Civil Defence

A clean-up operation was under way on Sunday with the situation slowly returning to normal.

Rain was still forecast in the east and south on Sunday but Ncema, the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, confirmed that the severe weather had ended.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority also said roads had been drained to clear the flooding, with its buses now operating normally.

Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, which regulates the emirate's private schools, said on Sunday that some nurseries, schools and universities will be allowed to introduce remote learning on Monday should damage to buildings from the weather be too severe to fix before pupils return.

Hazardous weather

The storm which started on Friday evening, mainly in Abu Dhabi, spread to all areas of the UAE early on Saturday and caused localised flooding.

Many parts of the country saw significant amounts of rain with events cancelled, flights diverted, wadis and beaches shut and several roads partially flooded.

Motorists also faced delays with some roads closed and traffic reduced on inter-emirate motorways on Saturday such as Mohamed bin Zayed Road (E311) due to the intensity of the downpours.

Dubai Police also reported diversions and water accumulation in Amman Street, Aleppo Street, Al Nahda Street, Al Ittihad Street, Al Khawaneej Street, Al Yalayis Street and Al Qudra Street.

Pictures on social media showed flood damage to villas.

In Kalba, Sudanese resident Adbelbasit Hassan said his home was partially flooded after intense rain fell on Friday night and Saturday evening.

“It rained all night on Friday,” said Mr Hassan, who was previously affected by the floods in 2022. “And water came into my house.”

He said authorities had pumped the floodwater away and it had receded by Sunday so he could stay in his home.

“Now it is OK,” he said. “The water has come down.”

Authorities had put an emergency plan in place to mitigate the effects of the storm. NCEMA outlined preparations at a briefing on Thursday.

In Dubai, emergency response teams of about 2,300 people worked around the clock to manage the situation, the emirate’s media office said.

Videos posted to social media by the National Centre of Meteorology showed downpours with waters coursing through rain-swollen wadis and dams.

Other footage on Storm Centre, a popular channel that tracks the country’s weather, showed torrential rain, hail and flooded roads.

Other videos showed a more picturesque aspect of the rain, such as a flowing waterfall in Ras Al Khaimah’s Wadi Ghalila and the desert of Sharjah turning green.

In Sharjah, emergency response teams of about 400 people used 200 tankers, 180 mobile pumps, 50 water collection basins and 20 towing vehicles during the clean-up operation.

The civil defence teams have also been responding to emergencies.

“Our main focus has been rescuing individuals trapped in their homes or vehicles,” Brig Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, director general of the Sharjah Civil Defence Authority, told The National.

“We successfully evacuated several families in collaboration with the Sharjah Social Services Department.”

On Saturday evening, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority said Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road was operating as usual. The emirate's marine transport services were also back to normal.

The latest storm comes about a month after a two-day depression swept across the UAE. Eight years ago to the day, a powerful storm wreaked havoc in parts of the country.

The NCM forecast a chance of rainfall on Sunday for the east and south of the country.

It said temperatures are expected to increase and warned of fog on Monday morning.

Further cloudy weather over islands and coastal areas is forecast later on Monday, with high humidity expected.

The rest of the week is forecast to be more settled.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH DETAILS

Liverpool 2

Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)

Genk 1

Samatta (40)

 

In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

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Other must-tries

Tomato and walnut salad

A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.

Badrijani nigvzit

A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.

Pkhali

This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.

The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 582bhp

Torque: 730Nm

Price: Dh649,000

On sale: now  

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Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure' ​​​​
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

Neymar's bio

Total club appearances 411

Total goals scored 241

Appearances for Barca 186

Goals scored for Barca 105

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Match info

Uefa Nations League Group B:

England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)

Brief scores:

Toss: Nepal, chose to field

UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23

Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17

Result: UAE won by 21 runs

Series: UAE lead 1-0

Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:

Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)

World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)

Date of birth: October 8, 1993

Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela

Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland

Height: 6ft (1.82m)

Career singles titles: 4

Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)

Career prize money: $13,928,719

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Preliminaries:

Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)

Main card:

Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)

Title card:

Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)

Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)

Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

Dhadak

Director: Shashank Khaitan

Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana

Stars: 3

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

PROFILE OF INVYGO

Started: 2018

Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo

Based: Dubai

Sector: Transport

Size: 9 employees

Investment: $1,275,000

Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

The Buckingham Murders

Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu

Director: Hansal Mehta

Rating: 4 / 5

Feeding the thousands for iftar

Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth 

Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people

The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box

350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley

Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck

Race card

6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (Dirt), 1,900m
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB), Dh120,000 (D), 1,400m
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB), Dh92,500 (D)1,400m
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB), Dh95,000 (D), 2,000m

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: March 11, 2024, 10:41 AM