Schools and many companies in the United Arab Emirates were closed on Thursday as torrential rains returned to the desert country just two weeks after record downpours blamed on climate change.
A lightning storm with powerful winds raced throughout the oil-rich monarchy overnight, with some regions receiving more than 50 mm (two inches) of rain by 8:00 a.m., according to the National Center of Meteorology.
Flooding was reported in several areas of the financial capital Dubai, and the city’s airport, the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic, canceled 13 flights and diverted five, according to a spokesperson.
Emirates, a state-owned airline located in Dubai, and sibling carrier flydubai have both warned passengers of delays as schools transition to online learning and public-sector workplaces close.
However, the rains were not as heavy as on April 16, when a record 259.5 mm of rain killed four people, shut major roads for days, and prompted the cancellation of over 2,000 flights.
On Thursday, there was no traffic on Dubai’s normally congested six-lane highways, and automobiles were abandoned on flooded lanes near the sprawling Ibn Battuta Mall.
Trucks pumping water were stationed in numerous flooded locations, as Dubai’s drainage system is frequently unable to cope with heavy rainfall.
Last month’s deluge, which also killed 21 people in neighboring Oman, was the most intense in the UAE, a majority-expatriate federation of seven sheikhdoms, since records began in 1949.
World Weather Attribution, a network of experts that examines the effect of climate change in extreme weather events, discovered that the deluge was “most likely” amplified by global warming induced by fossil fuel use.