Abu Dhabi, March 01: The downpour took a heavy toll with Dubai police registering over 170 traffic accidents.
Waterlogged roads, clogged gutters, tailbacks, calls for help from stranded motorists and one death at Global Village was reported on Sunday.
Some homes in RAK were flooded and a few developed cracks. In Sharjah, a portion of a wall collapsed on three parked cars. Six dilapidated villas in the emirate collapsed, said Sultan Al Mulla, Director General of Sharjah Municipality.
Sharjah recorded the most rain with 36.2 mm, Ras Al Khaimah 32mm, Abu Dhabi 18.6 mm, Dubai 16.7 mm, Fujairah 2.6 mm and Al Ain 2.3 mm.
The emirates of Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah formed rescue teams who worked round-the-clock to clear the roads, unblock the clogged drains and rescue stranded motorists. A number of tankers were also pressed into service to pump out the water. But despite their best efforts, the crawl back home on Sunday continued with motorists calling in to report traffic jams on Al Khail Road and Emirates Road.
Those heading to Sharjah and other northern emirates were the worst hit. Many were no closer to home after two hours of driving.
“The traffic is bumper-to-bumper,” called in one frustrated motorist. “Al Khail Road is going nowhere,” he said.
Dubai police registered 170 traffic accidents caused by rains, said Lt. Colonel Omer Abdullah Al Shamsi, Director of the Command and Control Room at the General Department of Dubai Police Operations. Twenty-one of these were serious, 16 medium and 133 accidents were minor, he said.
At the Global Village, “due to the extreme and unexpected weather conditions, an element of the Indian pavilion entrance fell. As a result of this accident, 14 people were taken to hospital where one of the injured later died,” according to a statement issued by the Global Village management.
The Global Village was closed on Sunday, the last day of the Dubai Shopping Festival, “due to expected bad weather”.
According to the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) the inclement weather since Friday was due a low pressure system carrying active dust-laden southern winds which reduce visibility to the lowest level.
–Agencies