Floods in Dubai as heaviest rainfall in 75 years hits UAE

Highways and malls have been flooded and flights disrupted at one of the world’s busiest airports after the United Arab Emirates experienced what its government described as the largest amount of rainfall in 75 years.

- Reged Ahmad, Lorenzo Tondo, Oliver Holmes

At least one person was killed , a 70-year-old man who police said was swept away in his car in Ras Al Khaimah , one of the UAE’s seven emirates .

Footage from Dubai international airport showed passenger jets moving through deep water, spraying water in their wake, while photos depicted city streets that had turned to rivers, with cars sitting abandoned in flood waters .

One man called the situation at the airport “absolute carnage”.

“You cannot get a taxi. There’s people sleeping in the metro station. There’s people sleeping in the airport,” he told Associated Press .

Despite the widespread impact, authorities have remained tightlipped on the extent of the damage.

The rains began on Monday night and by Tuesday evening more than 142mm (5.59in) had soaked the desert city of Dubai – normally the amount it gets in a year and a half . Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but the precipitation was particularly significant in the U A E .

In an average year there is 94.7m m of rain at Dubai international airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates. Yesterday the airport said it had experienced “significant disruption ” .