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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Dubai airport struggles to resume flights after heavy rains leave
runways underwater
By Barry Neild, Mostafa Salem, Francesca Street and Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN
Updated:
12:17 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest aviation
hubs, remained in disarray Thursday after unprecedented heavy rain led
to airliners having to negotiate flooded runways.
While check-ins for Emirates and Flydubai, the airport’s two main
operators, had reopened, the airport warned that its Terminal 3 was
experiencing high volumes of travelers as airlines tried to handle the
backlog from cancellations and delays.
“There is currently a high volume of guests in [the] Terminal 3
check-in area,” it said in a statement on its . “Passengers should
only come to Terminal 3 if they have received a confirmation from their
airline regarding their flight departure.”
Agency videos showed large crowds of passengers at the airport, which
was recently named as the second busiest worldwide.
Storms swept through the United Arab Emirates and surrounding countries
on Tuesday, dumping 250 millimeters (around 10 inches) of precipitation
in fewer than 24 hours in some areas – the heaviest rainfall
witnessed in the region for 75 years.
The tarmac of Dubai International Airport was left submerged. Videos
showed large jets plowing through the rippling water, sending up sprays
in their wake. In the airport’s terminals, hundreds of passengers
were forced to wait as their flights were canceled or delayed.
Mohit Mehta, from Gurgaon in India, said he had spent more than 30
hours at the airport after trying to catch a morning flight out of
Dubai on April 16.
“[The] condition was really bad,” he told CNN. “No one was there
to answer the queries. It was all haywire. There [was] a lot of water
logging inside the airport. A lot of leakage happening from the
roof.”
Mehta added that a shortage of catering options in the airport’s
Terminal 1 meant large queues as people sought food and water, which he
said was being sold a premium.
“For eating and drinking there was scarcity at the airport.”
‘Desperate’ need of help
On Thursday, some 549 flights in or out of the airport were delayed and
31 canceled, according to airplane tracker site . Of those delays, 302
were Emirates flights – 65% of the UAE flag carrier’s services –
and 152 were FlyDubai. Hundreds more had been canceled a day earlier.
Emirates issued an apology to affected passengers. Some have taken to
social media complaining they had been unable to contact the airline.
“Emirates extends our sincerest apologies to impacted customers who
have experienced delays and disruption to their travel plans caused by
bad weather and road conditions,” the . “We appreciate how
difficult it is for everyone affected.
“While some customers have been able to return home or reach their
destination, we are aware that many are still waiting to get on
flights. Our teams are working hard to restore our scheduled
operations, as well as secure accommodation and other amenities for
affected customers at the airport.
“Our primary concern will always be the safety of our customers and
crew, and this will never be compromised.”
One X user with the handle replied that they were struggling to contact
the airline after being stranded in Amsterdam when their flight to
Dubai was canceled.
“We are unable to get a response from you from literally any number
in the world, livechat is not responding,” they wrote. “We are
stuck in Amsterdam and are in need of help desperately.”
Some flew through the UAE’s airports last year, traveling through
Dubai International Airport alone. The UAE is home to approximately 10
million people, and is a hub for five airlines.
‘Grueling’ journey
Access roads to the airport were also hit as traffic ground to a halt.
The rain fell so heavily and quickly that some motorists on some roads
in Dubai were forced to abandon their vehicles as the floodwater rose
and roads turned into rivers.
The storms were part of a pattern of extreme rainfall events emerging
as the planet’s atmosphere warms due . A warmer atmosphere is able to
like a towel and then ring it out in the form of flooding rainfall.
The weather conditions were associated with a larger storm system
traversing the Arabian Peninsula and moving across the Gulf of Oman.
This same system has also brought unusually wet weather to and
southeastern Iran.
In Dubai, the rain meant delivery services were unable to function and
many residents were unable to leave their homes due to waterlogged
streets, which cars and pedestrians couldn’t access. Some residents
were seen rowing canoes outside their homes, and one viral video on
social media showed residents wake boarding on a flooded street in a
residential area.
Other videos from social media showed water rushing through a major
shopping mall and inundating the ground floor of homes.
Madiha Khawaja, a tourist visiting from London with her husband and two
children, aged two and four, said she felt “helpless” trying to
calm her children amid the chaos.
The rain had disrupted building lifts, including in some of Dubai’s
tallest skyscrapers. Khawaja said she spent 45 minutes taking the
stairs to her 27th floor apartment in the heart of Dubai to find rest
and shelter for her toddlers.
The journey was “grueling,” she said, adding that “upon reaching
our apartment with hungry and tired kids, we were met with dry taps, no
drinking water, no telephone service, no Wi-Fi connection.”
“The kids were hungry, and I as a mother was getting very anxious and
upset,” she told CNN.
Clean-up operations
On Thursday, the streets between the soaring skyscrapers of Dubai, were
still covered by large pools of water while residents in several
neighborhoods remain holed up at home avoiding blocked roads.
Municipal authorities were continuing to use trucks to pump water off
the roads and clear debris blocking the streets. The Dubai municipality
is also asking residents to send Whatsapp’s to remove the accumulated
rainwater.
Sheikh Zayed Road, a main highway connecting the entirety of Dubai has
been difficult to access due to cleanups, leaving traffic congestions
across the city as some metro stations remained non-operational.
In the nearby emirate of Sharjah, 65 community service patrols were
deployed to the areas affected with rain while cleanups continued.
Damage from the storm remained visible in different neighborhoods of
Abu Dhabi.
Schools will remain closed and federal workers will be working from
home until Friday, the government said.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has instructed
authorities to “quickly work” on evaluating the country’s
infrastructure and direct support to be provided to families impacted.
He also ordered the transfer of families affected to safe locations in
cooperation with local authorities.
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