Death toll rises and travel disrupted as floods causes airport chaos in Dubai

Travellers passing through Dubai are expected to face significant delays after powerful storms lashed the UAE. It comes as the record-breaking floods spark wild weather conspiracies.

Aussies stranded in Dubai have complained of airport chaos, saying queues were so long they have been unable to get food or run to the bathroom over fear of losing their place.

Travellers departing Dubai to fly home to Australia can now check in for their flights, as the UAE starts cleaning up the aftermath of torrential rain and widespread flooding.

Dubai Airport has resumed inbound flights from Terminal 1, which serves more than 50 international carriers, but the airport has warned passengers to come only if they have a confirmed booking in a bid to manage congestion as thousands wait for updates.

Travellers were stranded at the airport on Wednesday, living on rationed snacks and duty-free groceries as the city battled its heaviest rain since records began 75 years ago.

A record 254 millimetres — or 25.4cm — fell on the desert city in a matter of hours, flooding buildings, clogging highways, and causing chaos at its international airport.

AUSTRALIANS CAUGHT IN AIRPORT CHAOS

The wife of a Melbourne man told Seven News he was stranded on a plan for more than 10 hours without explanation, with passengers told they couldn’t get up to use the bathrooms.

“There has been no communication from the airline, no airport announcement, Emirates has also disabled their online chat and Dubai information line,” the woman said.

He was travelling alone and couldn’t leave the service queue to use the bathroom or get food.

“The queue got so bad, so tightly packed, he was unable to breathe anymore,” his wife said.

A group of 20 Australian swimmers, including Paralympian Izzy Vincent, also got stuck.

Sunny skies returned to the city on Thursday and airport operations are resuming.

“There may still be delays to arriving and departing flights,” Emirates said in a statement.

“We appreciate how difficult it is for everyone affected. While some customers have been able to return home or reach their destination, we are aware that many are still waiting to get on flights. Our teams are working hard to restore our scheduled operations, as well as secure accommodation and other amenities for affected customers at the airport.”

At this stage, the airline is unable to confirm the number of Australians impacted.

However, Dubai International is the world’s second-busiest international airport behind Atlanta in the United States, serving more than 80 million passengers last year.

It’s flagship airline, Emirates, currently operates about 60 weekly flights to Australia, with the capacity to transport more than 55,000 passengers per week to and from our shores.

Exhausted passengers wait for news of their flights in Dubai on April 17. Picture: AFP

Passengers queue at a flight connection desk at the Dubai International Airport. Picture: AFP

DUBAI DENIES WILD WEATHER THEORY

The wild weather has caused widespread speculation, with some attributing the extreme weather to global warming and others saying controversial cloud seeding is to blame.

The latter is a process by which chemical compounds are sprayed into the atmosphere in a bid to modify weather patterns and induce rainfall.

It’s currently used in a number of countries, including the UAE.

Climatologist Friederike Otto, who specialises in extreme weather events, told reporters it was “highly likely” that global warming had worsened the storms.

However, Maryam Al Shehhi, senior weather forecaster at the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology, denied a report that the UAE had carried out cloud seeding.

People wade through a flooded street following heavy rains in Sharjah. Picture: AFP

A taxi drives through a flooded street following heavy rains in Dubai. Picture: AFP

“We did not use cloud seeding because (the storm) was already strong,” Shehhi told AFP.

“The desert needs more time than other land for water to seep in. The amount of rain that has fallen is too much for the land to absorb,” she added.

Official media said it was the highest rainfall since records began in 1949, before the formation of the UAE in 1971.

Schools will also remain closed until next week in Bahrain, which saw record one-day rainfall of 96.88mm on Tuesday, beating the 67.9mm witnessed in 1995.

Cars and trucks try to navigate flooded streets following heavy rains in Dubai. Picture: AFP

LIVES LOST IN DEADLY STORMS

Meanwhile, at least 19 people have died in flash floods triggered by heavy rain in neighbouring Oman, its National Committee for Emergency Management said.

Casualties included schoolchildren, according to Oman’s state news agency.

The storms hit the Oman, the UAE and Bahrain on Monday and Tuesday.

At least one person has died in the UAE after a 70-year-old man was swept away in his car in Ras Al-Khaimah, one of the oil-rich country’s seven emirates, police said.

There have also been power outages and reports of submerged and abandoned cars, with one road tunnel in Dubai completely flooded to a depth of several metres.

As the torrential downpowers and rolling black clouds have given way to sunshine, stories are emerging from terrified residents who were stuck in cars and offices for hours.

Motorists drive along a flooded street following heavy rains in Dubai. Picture: Giuseppe CACACE/AFP

People push a stranded car along a flooded street in Dubai, Picture: AFP

“It was one of the most horrific situations I had ever experienced, because I knew that if my car broke down, it would sink and I would drown with it,” said one worker in his 30s, after his 15-minute commute had turned into a 12-hour saga on flooded roads.

“I was very afraid,” he added.

One householder said he made a small detour on Tuesday to buy McDonald’s for his children, only to get stuck in traffic and finally arrive — empty-handed — six hours later.

“I can understand that the country can’t deal with rain on this scale, but the lack of transparency and real-time information is disappointing,” he said

Schools will remain closed in Dubai until next week, authorities said, underscoring the difficulty of the huge clean-up mission which is now in progress.

Originally published as Death toll rises and travel disrupted as floods causes airport chaos in Dubai