Dubai comes to a standstill as cloud seeding worsens flood situation

The heavy rains that caused widespread flooding across the desert country were partly caused by clouds. The United Arab Emirates began cloud seeding operations in 2002 to address water security issues, even though lack of drainage in many areas can lead to flooding.

The Gulf state’s National Meteorological Center dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to take advantage of convective cloud formations, according to expert meteorologist Ahmed Habib. That technique involves injecting chemicals and small particles – often natural salts like potassium chloride – into the atmosphere to make clouds produce more rain.

Amid fears of a rise in heat-related deaths in the UAE due to global warming, Dubai’s media office described the rain as “rain of goodness” despite homes being flooded and swimming pools overflowing.

According to Habib at the NCM, the latest storms followed heavy rains earlier this year. He said seeding aircraft have flown seven missions in the last two days.

“You conduct the operation for any suitable cloud over the UAE,” he said.

Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airports, had to shut down operations for 25 minutes due to the rain.

“Heavy rain and flooding are causing significant disruption to operations at Dubai International,” an airport spokesperson told Bloomberg. More than 40 flights were canceled and incoming services were temporarily diverted until weather conditions improved.

The UAE government issued a warning ahead of the heavy rain, asking people to stay at home and only go out “if absolutely necessary”. It later extended remote work for all federal employees through Wednesday.

People took to social media to share updates on the situation following the weather. Some videos showed cars being swept off the roads, while others showed the roof of a shop collapsing due to flooding in Dubai’s most popular mall. The Emirates Metro was disrupted.

Residents had to evacuate from apartments and underground car parks were flooded. Some buildings also faced power cuts.

Roads were also flooded in Abu Dhabi.

At least 18 people have died in floods caused by heavy rains in recent days in neighboring Oman, the AP reported, citing a statement from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management.

–With assistance from Leanne Al-Rashdan.

(Updated with death toll in Oman in last paragraph)

More stories like this are available on Bloomberg.com

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Published: April 17, 2024, 01:09 am IST