The week that life in Dubai came to a standstill

Dubai, United Arab Emirates CNN —

The scenes from Dubai this week seemed apocalyptic to residents more accustomed to the tranquil nature of the sunny desert metropolis.

This city had not witnessed a natural disaster of such magnitude since records began, and the devastation it left behind only became apparent after the storm subsided.

The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, experienced the heaviest rainfall in at least 75 years, with more than a year’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours. For many, life in the glitzy tourist and financial center almost came to a standstill.

Emergency services worked 24 hours a day and no deaths were reported in the city, although a 70-year-old man died after flooding swept away his vehicle in the neighboring Ras Al-Khaimah Emirate.

The chaos that followed was short-lived, but showed the city’s vulnerability to natural disasters.

When runways were flooded, flights were canceled at one of the world’s busiest airports. Flashy shopping centers were soaked with rain seeping through the ceilings, and elevators in skyscrapers stopped functioning, forcing residents to climb dozens of floors. Unable to get home, some drivers slept in their cars due to blocked roads.

The images were shocking for the high-tech city, a leading international tourist destination with world-class infrastructure, some of which has succumbed to natural disasters. Rain is scarce in the Persian Gulf region and city planning does not take into account the possibility of major storms.

Dubai has a unique demographic model. Of its 3.5 million residents, 92% are foreigners who come from 200 countries to live and work in the city, lured by its tax-free status and relaxed lifestyle.

According to one report, it is the second-best tourist destination in the world, with more than 17 million visitors last year, attracted by its year-round sunshine, gourmet dining and luxury shopping.

This week’s disruptions affected almost everyone, from tourists and migrant workers to minority populations and Western expats.

The authorities have summoned people stay at homebut many ventured out anyway, only to find they could not return because of the waterlogged streets.

“The scary thing is that you had nowhere to go,” said Sofie, an expat who declined to give her last name. She ended up stranded on the flooded roads for almost twelve hours, part of which she slept in her car.

On Sheikh Zayed Road, a 16-lane thoroughfare in Dubai with gleaming glass skyscrapers, motorists reported almost complete blockages in some areas, with cars driving against traffic to escape the gridlock. In the financial district, home to the regional operations of some of the world’s top banks, luxury cars were seen almost completely submerged as the streets turned into lakes. At the man-made Dubai Marina, a popular destination for Western and Russian visitors, furniture from nearby restaurants and coffee shops was swept away by the current.

When the water receded, the streets were littered with debris. Images in local media showed highways with lanes full of abandoned cars; in some neighborhoods they had yet to be removed on Thursday morning.

The economic damage from the storm could amount to billions of dirhams, with significant impacts on vehicles, properties and infrastructure, said Avinash Babur, CEO of InsuranceMarket.ae, an insurance broker in the UAE (1 dirham is equivalent to $0.27).

“The current damage is significant, with notable impacts on both public and private properties, including key infrastructure,” he told CNN. “Although Dubai has experienced storms in the past, the unique intensity of this event has presented new challenges.”

The number of calls and inquiries to insurance companies has increased tenfold, he said, with a surge in demand for home insurance.

As some residents became trapped in their homes without electricity and unable to leave due to flooding outside, some opted to swim through swamps to escape. As the use of landlines became increasingly rare, people without electricity relied on power banks to use their smartphones.

For many, the confinement was reminiscent of the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020.

Dubai was heavily dependent on foreign visitors and capital and was one of the first cities to emerge from lockdown as tourist numbers declined and property prices fell. The UAE was among the first countries to achieve 100% vaccination in November 2021.

Babur said the current situation presents an opportunity for Dubai “to demonstrate its resilience and rapid recovery capacity, similar to its effective management during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

As food apps suspended deliveries during and after the storm, some residents had to turn to canned food, or whatever was left in their refrigerator, for sustenance. Those without electricity used barbecues to cook frozen food that was thawing in the freezer. Some fared even worse: Homes were flooded with water, sometimes up to their waists, according to videos shared in local media, destroying belongings, furniture and appliances.

The UAE has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world at 96% (the United States is at 90%, while China is at 72%). Residents rely heavily on home delivery for everything from groceries and car fuel to ice cream and pedicures at the tap of a screen, a phenomenon that took off during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

On a normal day, city streets are teeming with cyclists rushing to make deliveries for companies that promise delivery times of 20 minutes for groceries and 40 minutes for food. But at the beginning of this week, most did not deliver. That forced people to venture out on foot, leading to large crowds at neighborhood restaurants and supermarkets, with hours-long lines for food in some cases. Some restaurants stayed open until the early hours to meet demand. Residents reported seeing empty shelves for some items in grocery stores the day after the storm, including frozen foods and prepared foods. The delivery apps began resuming services on Thursday but still faced major delays.

Ali Salem, a 55-year-old retired Emirati, told CNN on Thursday that he had been stuck in his home in Dubai’s upmarket Jumeirah neighborhood since the storm hit on Tuesday due to flooding on his street. The house has been without water or electricity since then, he said, and on Tuesday he was told by the utility company that he would have to wait two days for the problem to be resolved. Electricity was finally restored on Friday.

“Lesson learned,” he said. “A generator could be useful in the future.”

However, the rain was not so miserable for the young people. Schools moved to remote learning for the rest of the week, but some students without electricity at home were happy to go on vacation because they couldn’t power their computers.

Then the memes began, with residents finding joy and humor in the discomfort of a once-in-75-years phenomenon. A viral video on social media showed fish swimming in a pool of water on a sidewalk next to an overflowing man-made lake. Several videos on social media showed a festive atmosphere, with children jumping on rubber boats as their neighborhoods turned into ponds. One video showed migrant workers playing volleyball in ankle-deep water; in several others, residents were seen wakeboarding in flooded streets.

Another video showed boys jet skiing at full speed in a residential area, with the caption: “Only in Dubai.”