Monday, March 1, 2010

It's Raining Camels & Oryx!

yes, dubai flooded!

picture from gulfnews

first off, i'd like to report that i've been demam for the last couple of days. blame it on the latest 'attack' of sandstorm, then me flipping out mattresses and carpets to get rid of the habuk plus my over-indulgence with icy-cold coke.

around two days the sand enveloped dubai's high skyline in an extremely blurry state, but by the night of the second day, it was pouring rain. bahaya, hujan debu!

i like how *gulfnews put it - "...forget cats and dogs, this week it was much larger mammals. And the bad news is, more is on the way.."

*gulfnews is the uae newspaper that i frequently read here.

dubai flooded - picture from gulfnews

we went to ibn battuta mall for our weekly/monthly marketing, and came out only to be greeted with heel-high flooded parking lot.

on the way, we passed by the intersection going into the jumeirah palm island, and there was a long line. tengok betul-betul - man, we can see a few cars practically submerged in the middle of the rain-flood. kat corner yang nak masuk palm island tu!

mr. khairul was taking chances as he braved the flood with our humble 4x4. "time-time macam ni hummer berlagak la! hihi.." the trick is to follow the biggest 4x4 we could find, as it would have 'open up the road' for us to drive past!

depan westin hotel memang agak flooded, but fortunately it was a smooth ride from then on.

also from gulfnews - water on the floor of the mall of emirates!

with the rain, came 1001 mishaps all over uae! reports adapted from gulfnews here and here.

  • three people electrocuted in sharjah when they stepped on live wires
  • a 60-year-old woman died when a sign broke loose at the indian pavilion in the global village and fell on her, while 13 people were injured! what's dubai global village? click here.
  • traffic lights malfunctioned
  • scores of cars were seen left stranded on the streets
  • police reported more than 170 accidents
  • the heavy rains even caused leaks in the mall of the emirates! siap letak buckets to catch the drips!
  • at dubai mall there was deep water in the car parks and taxi bays
  • traffic was at a standstill as major intersections and roads submerged
you can also read and see more pictures in fida and sheila's blogs. betul jugak diorang tulis, jalanraya dubai takde longkang! kesian, negara yang tak biase hujan jadi takde plan B or C kalo hujan lebat!

bumper to bumper traffic after a heavy rain - burj khalifa in the background


school buses also re-schedule their trips to pick up kids to beat the traffic

LATEST on dubai, uae flood from gulfnews, click here.

* * *

let's hope the weather changed for the better in the coming days. so long sandstorm, farewell rain (or if you wanna come visit, just a drizzle or a drip-drip-drop, ok - jangan sampai banjir! hihi).

me? still woozy with blocked nose. *sniff sniff*

5 comments:

i_sofia said...

waaa.. best nyer merasa pengalaman yg camne.. :)

FiDa@aMiDa said...

i was at MOE last saturday last minutes shopping before DSF end...masa kat tingkat atas pelik gak apasal tetiba ada baldi kat situ rupanya bocor dari bumbung hujan lebat kat luar..then on the way back..hugh...alamak banjir kat basement MOE nasib baik tak tak dlm sgt kalau x abis ler enjin kete masuk air..

arin said...

itu la.jalan kalau takde longkang..abis la.kitaorg pon , kalau kat mesia terkena banjir, cari lori..lalu belakang lori.lori corner kiri, kita ikut.heheheh..
hati2 mr K , syigim n anak2 during hujan,sandstorm and such nih.

Syigim said...

>> i_sofia, hujan lebat tu mcm kat msia je.. tp bila jadi kat dubai mcm lain plak sbb negara padang pasir... ;)

>> fida, tu la mcm xcaya je baca berita psl MOE bocor! mcm2 dubai ni kalo hujan!

Syigim said...

btul kak arin, locals kat dubai ni slalu gabra kalo drive masa hujan psl diorang xbiase so camne careful pun takut diorang yg trlanggar kita!

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