Monica Meloni, an Italian resident in Dubai, tells Fanpage.it about the storm that hit the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday 16 April, flooding the city. The images spread on social media are impressive. It was the strongest disturbance of the last 75 years: “I had never seen such power before, not even during the 1994 Piedmont flood.”
“This year has been exceptionally rainy. I have been here in the Emirates for 7 years and it’s the first time there’s so much rainpartly also due to the cloud seeding. There yesterday’s disturbance (Tuesday 16 April, ed), however, it seems it was natural and he did it damage first in Oman and then here, all the Emirates were affected.”
Monica Meloni, 51 years old from Turin, lives in Dubai it’s at Fanpage.it the strong one said storm which hit the city of the United Arab Emirates in the last few hours, flooding it, the videos and photos released on social media are impressive. In the images you can see vehicles almost completely submerged and houses invaded by water.
“We were all alerted, the authorities were ready to warn the population. We received cell phone messages telling us to stay home as much as possible. Of course, probably no one expected what actually happened. – explains Monica again – We knew that we would not go to work and that the schools would be closed, this certainly has limited the damage“.
Dubai hit by torrential rain: airport runways submerged in water, 18 dead in Oman
“It really was something I had never seen before, not even during the great Piedmont flood of 1994 (Monica is from Turin, ed). A violence, such a power… – the story continues – Yesterday morning it was raining but it seemed like a temporary thing, there were also some clearings around lunch time. Then, a first wave of rain was followed by another very heavy one around 6/6.30 pm.
As some foreign newspapers have reported, they are in the city of the Emirates 142 millimeters of rain fell and yesterday’s was the strongest disturbance in the last 75 years. THE damage they still don’t know each other exactly, adds Monica.
“I live in a suburban neighborhood of the city and the streets around my house are almost all unusable on the two lanes, in some, however, you can only travel on one of the two. There were so many trees uprooted. Some main arteries still have problems but, little by little, things are returning to normal. It takes time”.
Schools and government offices will remain closed, “but fortunately here you can work and study from home. And this will also facilitate those who are intervening to restore electricity in the areas and buildings, and the roads. Some metro stations had not yet reopened a few hours ago.”
Many shopping centers are also still closed as they are not accessible, while others are open but only partially functioning. “Nearby, for example, there is one where the supermarket is open, while the other shops are still suffering. – says Monica – The airport will not be 100% operational until this eveningmany companies are experiencing delays in departures and arrivals because some flights have been diverted.”
Today the sun returned to Dubai, “but we are all looking at the sky, hoping it doesn’t rain again”, explains Monica. “The indications at the moment are those of don’t go into the streetunless you need it. Also because the trucks must be able to move to transform basic necessities or to suck up the water that is in some areas. They are working very hard and quickly to clean up and get everything back to normal as quickly as possible.”
“We are entering the season very hot, although exceptionally the temperatures are still pleasant. – he concludes – But we don’t know what will happen later, Let’s hope there aren’t any others“.
Tags: Flood Dubai rains flood city Italian Fanpage violence
