The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is recovering from its worst flooding ever, caused by unprecedented rainfall that flooded Dubai International Airport, disrupting travel at the world's busiest international airfield.
The state-run WAM news agency described Tuesday's rain as "a historic weather event," surpassing any recorded since data collection began in 1949, before the UAE's oil boom. Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but the UAE was hardest hit.
Cloud seeding, a method involving government aircraft releasing special salt flares into clouds to induce precipitation, may have contributed to the intense rainfall. Reports indicated that meteorologists at the National Center for Meteorology conducted six or seven cloud-seeding flights before the rainfall. Flight-tracking data showed one such aircraft affiliated with the UAE's cloud-seeding efforts flying around the country on Sunday.
The UAE, which heavily relies on energy-hungry desalination plants to provide water, conducts cloud seeding in part to increase its dwindling, limited groundwater.
The rains began late Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 20 millimeters (0.79 inches) of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified around 9 a.m. local Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.
By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimeters (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimeters (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport, a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.
At the airport, standing water lapped on taxiways as aircraft landed. Arrivals were halted Tuesday night, and passengers struggled to reach terminals through the floodwater covering surrounding roads.
One couple, who spoke to The Associated Press (AP) on condition of anonymity to speak freely in a country with strict laws that criminalize critical speech, called the situation at the airport "absolute carnage."
"You cannot get a taxi. There are people sleeping in the Metro station and in the airport," the man said Wednesday.
They ended up getting a taxi to near their home, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, but floodwater on the road stopped them. A bystander helped them over a highway barrier with their carry-on luggage, the bottles of gin they picked up from duty-free clinking away.
Dubai International Airport acknowledged Wednesday morning that the flooding had left "limited transportation options" and affected flights as aircraft crews couldn't reach the airfield.
"Recovery will take some time," the airport said on the social platform X. "We thank you for your patience and understanding while we work through these challenges."
Emirates said the airline had halted check-in for passengers departing from Dubai itself from 8 a.m. until midnight Wednesday as it tried to clear the airport of transit passengers – many of whom had been sleeping where they could in its cavernous terminals.
"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused," the airline said on X. "Emirates is working hard to restore our scheduled operations."
Passengers on FlyDubai, Emirates' low-cost sister airline, also faced disruptions.
Paul Griffiths, the airport's CEO, acknowledged continued issues with flooding Wednesday morning, saying every place an aircraft could be safely parked was taken. Some aircraft had been diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, the city-state's second airfield.
"It remains an incredibly challenging time. In living memory, I don't think anyone has ever seen conditions like it," Griffiths told the state-owned talk radio station Dubai Eye. "We are in uncharted territory, but I can assure everyone we are working as hard as we possibly can to make sure our customers and staff are looked after."
Schools across the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, were largely shut down ahead of the storm, and government employees worked remotely if possible. Many workers stayed home as well, though some ventured out, with the unfortunate stalling out of their vehicles in deeper-than-expected water covering some roads.
Authorities sent tanker trucks into the streets and highways to pump away the water. Water poured into some homes, forcing people to bail out their houses.
The country's hereditary rulers offered no overall damage or injury information for the nation, as some slept in their flooded vehicles Tuesday night. In Ras al-Khaimah, the country's northernmost emirate, police said one 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater.
Fujairah, an emirate on the UAE's eastern coast, saw the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday, with 145 millimeters (5.7 inches) falling there.
Authorities canceled school, and the government instituted remote work again for Wednesday.
Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months. Many roads and other areas lack drainage, and the lack of regular rainfall causes flooding.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Oman, a sultanate that rests on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 19 people were killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement Wednesday from the country's National Committee for Emergency Management. That includes some 10 schoolchildren swept away in a vehicle with an adult, which saw condolences come into the country from rulers across the region.
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan over the phone.
According to a statement from the Presidency Communications Directorate, President Erdoğan expressed his condolences to Al Nahyan for the flood disaster in the UAE.
