Flood in Dubai. Current situation at Dubai airport

On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates received the heaviest rainfall in 75 years. More than twice as much rain fell in 24 hours as typically falls in a year. Desert cities, including Dubai, were flooded with water, and there was chaos on the streets and in public buildings.

As Gulf News reported on Friday, clean-up after the floods is underway in Dubai. More than 5,000 city workers pumped water from flooded streets and removed objects carried by the waves in order to clear the most important roads. On Friday, metro and city bus services were also restored. Engineers, rescuers and coordinators, as well as drivers of specialized vehicles, also participate in the clean-up work.

Read on: Floods in Dubai. They got stuck in a flooded car and were fatally poisoned by carbon monoxide

The runways of Dubai International Airport (DXB) were flooded. The airport temporarily suspended operations, canceled a number of departures and diverted many arrivals. The UAE's flag carrier, Emirates, closed its check-in counters on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, the airport said it had resumed accepting incoming flights at Terminal 1, which is used by foreign carriers, but disruptions continued. A few hours later, it was announced that check-in for Emirates and Flydubai flights had resumed at Terminal 3. The situation was still far from ideal on Friday.

Among the people who experienced difficulties at the Dubai airport is Mrs. Magda, who is traveling with a small child. She wrote about the difficulties on Kontakt 24. She explained that she was currently in a hotel with her child, after they had spent about 30 hours at the airport.

– So far we have not had any contact from Emirates Airlines. The phone line is busy, both in Dubai and Poland. We don't have our luggage or our rescheduled return flight. It was also impossible to obtain any information from the carrier at the airport. We don't know when we will be back. Although flights are already being resumed, we no longer receive any emails regarding this matter. No contact, no information or help. European Union law, under which the carrier should guarantee accommodation, meals or pay compensation, does not apply here either – she reported on Friday. – The Polish embassy recommends returning via Abu Dabhi, but this does not solve our problems, because what about our luggage? Moreover, some of the people stuck here do not speak English or cannot afford it for financial reasons. We hear from every side that no one can do anything, she emphasized.

A group of eight Poles who arrived in Dubai from Bali also experienced difficulties at the airport. As they reported, they spent 27 hours in the terminal. They added that the travel agency booked them hotel rooms on Thursday, but they spent half the day trying to locate their luggage. – The lines left us alone. They offered us a flight on April 23, but our holidays are running out and we have no childcare. We bought tickets to Warsaw ourselves, with other airlines and from another airport, but we can't get our luggage out now. The airlines claim that the luggage is at the airport, but we spend hours waiting in queues at information offices and no one is able to help us, said Mrs. Maria on Thursday.

– The worst thing is that our friends flew from this airport to Warsaw today and told us that the plane was half empty. And for us there is only a flight in five days. Chaos is indescribable – added an embittered Mrs. Nina on Thursday. The Emirates plane landed at the Warsaw airport on Thursday at 3:46 p.m. Polish time. At 7:30 p.m., the plane of Emirates' partner airline, FlyDubai, arrived.

Dubai airport is resuming operations slowly, so not every passenger will depart.

On Friday afternoon, the airport said it had to temporarily reduce the number of arrivals due to the disruption. The disruptions are expected to last 48 hours.

“Emirates is suspending check-in for all passengers on its route to Dubai until 11.59 p.m. on Friday, April 19,” it said on Friday morning. “Passengers already in Dubai and in transit will continue to be redirected to their flights,” it added.

“We encourage you to arrive at the airport only if the airline has confirmed your departure,” Dubai International Airport noted on social media Friday morning. “We are currently dealing with overcrowding at the airport, so you should not arrive too early,” the announcement said. The airport asked travelers not to arrive earlier than two hours before departure.

A violent storm hit Dubai on the night from Monday to Tuesday. It was accompanied by heavy rain, which led to flash floods. The disaster quickly made most roads impassable, which resulted in heavy traffic jams. In many districts, hundreds of drivers spent several hours in their cars. Some drivers had to be saved by breaking their car windows.

The city's main streets were underwater, so individual districts of Dubai, surrounded by highways, were cut off from the world. The rain penetrated many single-family houses, but also apartments in high-rise buildings. Many buildings across the country still have no electricity. Some streets are passable only for cars with high suspension. On Thursday afternoon, the metro started operating again, but most buses and taxis are not running. Many stores are still not shipping goods.