DUBAI // Flooding on the country’s most travelled road was cleared on Thursday afternoon about 30 hours after a storm dumped a record-breaking amount of rain.
Traffic began to return to normal on Thursday after floodwater brought traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road to a standstill and left many motorists stranded.
A failure in the Jebel Ali irrigation station caused the flooding after Wednesday’s storm, Dubai Municipality said. Workers managed to clear the road of remaining water and debris by 5pm on Thursday.
“Teams to drain the water have been dispatched across the city and have been working non-stop to clear the roads and neighbourhoods that have been affected by the weather,” said Talib Julfar, director of the municipality’s drainage and irrigation department.
Water had leaked into the drainage station, causing a short circuit that led to a fire, said Mr Julfar, adding that the issue was resolved. He estimated that a million cubic metres of water had been drained through Dubai’s system.
Other flooded areas, such as Discovery Gardens, were not under the municipality’s jurisdiction and had their own private stations, he said.
Some Dubai residents were still unable to leave their homes to go to work on Thursday.
“A lot of people are still stuck in their homes,” said Antonio Abreu, a Discovery Gardens resident.
Authorities had been pumping water all night, but the main road in the area was still flooded more than 11 hours after the rain stopped, with only 4x4 vehicles able to pass.
“If it was still raining, we would have to go out by boat for sure,” he said. “I have never seen it this bad.” Dave Spours, also a Discovery Garden resident, said that he, too, was not able to reach work on Thursday. “I tried to leave to go to work this morning, but there was no way we were going to get out. We were in a taxi, and after about half an hour trying to get out, we told him to take us back home,” he said. “Hundreds of cars were on the road, and it was gridlock.”
Developer Nakheel said it had drafted in extra manpower, with 24-hour operations in place to clear “unprecedented water levels” in some of its communities, and said that it would assess any structural damage to individual properties and repair accordingly.
Abu Dhabi resident Johnny Beyrouthy said his 13-hour commute from Dubai on Wednesday was a long and strenuous ordeal, and he had not been able to eat the entire day.
“There was a gas station that was approximately four kilometres away from me, but it was raining heavily and those of us not close to it couldn’t really walk there,” he said. “There were some people who left their cars and went there to eat.”
Dubai Police recorded 476 traffic incidents between 11am and 11pm on Wednesday, said Lt Col Khazraj Al Khazraji, deputy director of Dubai’s command and control room. All were considered minor and there were no fatalities, he said.
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