A new lake in Motor City… (complete with cars, buses and trucks)
I’m back! It’s been a crazy time. A week-long Eid holiday, where we went over to Oman, again (it’s fun, and cheap comparatively, coz we don’t need to fly, and no visas are needed), followed by the biggest floods in the history of the UAE (and Oman, I presume). So many people lost their cars, and belongings. A handful of people lost their lives in the UAE and 20+ people died in Oman including 9 students and their driver who were swept away in their vehicle by the torrent! We’re lucky, because we got back from Oman a few days before the floods started, and also, I managed to get back home before the flood became impassable on the day the rains hit the UAE, thanks to the wise decision of our site-office, who told us to leave early (before lunch). Those colleagues at our head office weren’t so lucky. They released the staff at 4pm. By that time the subway and roads had been inundated, and most were stuck in the city till the next day!
Here’s an account of the things that happened and some photos of the chaos I saw!
On Sunday, 14-April, news came of the devastating floods in Oman. But we’ve been warned, from the week before, that there’d be rain in the UAE. We just didn’t think it’d be that big. Sometimes the rain doesn’t even last an hour!!
On Monday, 15-April, we could already see dark, ominous clouds in the distance. All of the UAE were waiting for a rain party! Hell, this is a desert. Rain’s a blessing! We received messages from the schools that they’re switching to distance learning for the next day. All government departments were already working from home. Only silly, private companies were still going to work. What would some pesky rain do? Chehh…
On Tuesday, 16-April, we woke up to a wet day. Hey, it’s been raining in the night. How cool! But it’s stopped. No messages from the office, so off I went to the office. The roads were wet, and there’re already puddles in some of the known low spots along the way, nothing too big for yours truly to handle, ahem. But strangely, I could see cracks on the asphalt roads, which I hadn’t noticed before in all the other times of rain.
Wow, the air’s nice and cool, I don’t even need AC. There’s some sun in the horizon, but directly above us, the sky was already like a thick grey blanket, and it’s darkening by the minute.
The rain came at 8.45am. A strong, pounding rain. Actual rain, not the puny, sandy sort of rain that we usually get here that dirties the car and everything else, and leaves little to no sign of water on the ground. I betya, loads of people would have been out taking videos and photos for their social media posts! There’s lightning and thunder and everything else. Heck, this is ‘exciting!’
At about 10am, our office admin said we could leave, before the floods became too bad. This is especially so for the people who live in Sharjah. They’re more prone to waterlogging and traffic is unimaginable in those times. I had some work to do, and decided to sit it out until lunch.
I left at about 1pm. … “Shite, they’ve friggin blocked the road (an 8-lane highway) which I usually use to get home. No problem, I’ll just use the other way.”
WTF! Not this road as well! Now, I’ve got to go the opposite direction, heading north (instead of south) passing through the area where my office was, but I could now see that the road which I used to get to the office in the morning, was already flooded and closed off, and there’re stalled cars in there. A few sedan cars were being pushed by people wading in water. The highway’s jammed because all the cars had to squeeze into the 1 unflooded lane, from the original 6-lanes. (Those who had the guts made use of the second lane, which had some water, but not that much that it’d stop your car!)
Luckily, I got on to another highway that went south and managed to get to near where we stayed, but I still had to get thru a few neighbourhoods and major roads. And I came to a standstill in front of a ‘river’ with a few cars floating in it! (Below)
Al Qudra Road, 2.10 pm, one lane passable, if you dare (if you’re an SUV, truck or bus). No, definitely not for sports cars… The silver and red cars on the right were already stalled, as well as the white sedan, up ahead
Whew, got through. This was Motor City, Dubai at 2.50pm. Gotta get some provisions, don’t fancy coming out in the rain, later on. Look at the clouds. “The next big one is coming!”
It’s started again. Got home just in time. Oia Residence’s parking entrance ramp on the left. “The road ahead is already flooded!”
The day after. The same road as above on Wednesday, 17-April, 5pm
Hey, we have a new ‘attraction’ in town, Motor Lake! Hey kids! Be careful!
This ‘lake’ took the authorities 5 days to clear. It’s actually a low part of a 6-lane road (Al Qudra Road) and is one of the main entrances into Motor City, our neighbourhood
Wednesday, 17-April was a working from home day, but we had to get back to work on Thursday, 18-April. One good thing was that Google Maps had all the blocked roads marked. (It’s amazing how up-to-date it was), but still, it led me to this place (below). “To pass or not to pass??” What a conundrum
Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Road, just outside Dubai Silicon Oasis… I sat here (with scores of vehicles beside and behind me, …cars, buses, heck, even trucks) waiting for some brave souls to make the crossing, just to see how deep it was. Seeing those few stuck cars in the water, which include SUVs, doesn’t help muster up any courage. After 10 minutes or so, a pick-up truck with high wheels, made the crossing, along the yellow-line, going in between the abandoned cars. It’s through!! I followed… Whew, no problems. In my rear-view mirror, I saw another car starting the challenge… There you go!
Thank God. We got through the disaster, with no problems. Some of the areas took more than a week to clear. Some parts are still under water till this day. Some areas were without power and clean water, due to power cuts. Some roads became canals, with sunken cars. God help those who suffered recover quickly.
