Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours, the state’s media office said in a statement Wednesday.

The rainfall, which flooded streets, uprooted palm trees and shattered building facades, has never been seen in the Middle Eastern nation since records began in 1949. In the popular tourist destination Dubai, flights were canceled, traffic came to a halt and schools closed.

One-hundred millimeters (nearly 4 inches) of rain fell over the course of just 12 hours on Tuesday, according to weather observations at the airport – around what Dubai usually records in an entire year, according to United Nations data.

The rain fell so heavily and so quickly that some motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles as the floodwater rose and roads turned into rivers.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      8 months ago

      You’re suggesting that my happy that the UAE is getting some karma for helping destroy the planet is somehow ignoring the fact that there were a lot of poor people that have better lives now because the UAE has been helping destroy the planet.

      I’m pointing out that I’m not talking about the poor people.

      • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        It’s literally only the poor people that will suffer. Do you think any of the oil billionaires in the UAE are going to be finding it hard to sleep tonight?

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          12
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          I’m sure people made the same argument during the bombings of Berlin in the 1940s. The elite were safe in their bunkers or in the countryside.