WATCH: Desert city Dubai gets yearly rainfall in a day
Watch roads turn into gushing rivers, cars that wash away, and aeroplanes that look like boats…
Like most of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai is located in a desert. With a hot and dry climate, the infrastructure is not built to handle extreme rainfall.
On Tuesday, city officials measured the heaviest rainfall in 75 years.
The desert city annually gets, on average, about 94.7 millimetres.
The downpour began on Monday evening (15 April) and, by Tuesday evening, more than 100 millimetres had fallen.
Roads became rivers, submerging homes and highways. Dubai Mall flooded, cars washed away while aeroplanes looked like boats on runways.
Videos on social media show the impact of the flash flooding:
@7newsaustralia Torrential rain has caused major flooding in Dubai, submerging cars on the city’s streets and forcing the airport to divert flights. #dubaiflooding #floods #7NEWS ♬ original sound - 7NEWS Australia
@sergiocarrallo So sad .. 😖🙏🏻 #dubai #rain #storm #flood ♬ original sound - Sergio Carrallo
@myus.hamed5 Strong flood in Dubai today 😱🇦🇪
♬ الصوت الأصلي - Myus Hamed 1
@baztocky Dubai today #fyp #dubai #floods #storm ♬ It's Not so Bad - Cummrs
@heyitstae16 habibi 😭 #dubaimall #flooding #flashflooding #dubaistorm #rain ♬ Oh No - Kreepa
@sparkupdate A Stay-home advisory has been issued due to heavy rain flooding all 7 Emirates including Dubai The UAE has been experimenting and using cloud seeding! #ข่าวtiktok ♬ original sound - Spark Update
Authorities in Dubai are warning residents to stay at home.
Climatologists have shown how 'unusual' weather is becoming more frequent due to human-driven climate change.