ALBAWABA - According to Ras Al Khaimah police, a 70-year-old man has reportedly lost his life after he tried to drive his car during heavy rainfall despite police warnings in the Wadi Asfani area causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
The police report further explained that emergency teams were sent to the area, where they retrieved the body of the elderly man, and it was sent to relevant authorities for proper procedures to be followed.
Heavy thunderstorms have blasted the United Arab Emirates (UAE), dumping over a year and a half's worth of rain on the desert emirate of Dubai in a matter of hours and flooding major roadways and its international airport.
The rains began late on Monday, soaking Dubai's sands and roads with about 20mm of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport.
As planes landed at the airport, pools of water flowed down the taxiways. On Tuesday night, the airport halted arrivals, and travelers struggled to access terminals due to floodwater flooding close roadways.
On Wednesday morning, Dubai International Airport recognized that the floods had left "limited transportation options" and hampered flights because aircraft workers were unable to reach the airfield.
Emirates said it was postponing passenger check-in at Dubai International from 8 a.m. until midnight on Wednesday due to operational problems caused by the constant rain.
Social media footage showed extreme flooding across various facilities, from malls and shopping centers to Dubai International Airport. Some footage showed random items flying off people's balconies due to high winds.
Schools across the UAE, a federation of seven emirates, were mostly closed prior to the storm, and government officials were mostly working remotely. Many other workers stayed at home, but some attempted to venture out, leaving them trapped in deeper-than-expected water after their vehicles' engines stopped working due to massive rain levels.
With major heavy rains sweeping across the country, Fujairah, an emirate on the eastern coast of the country, witnessed the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday with a record of 145mm.
Authorities canceled school and the government instituted remote work again for Wednesday.
The National Committee for Emergency Management in Oman reported that at least 18 persons had died as a result of severe rainfall in recent days. Among those killed were ten children who were swept away in a vehicle with an adult.
