First Rain

Rain in UAE is like the first snowfall of winter. It’s rare.

Children run out into the street in their bare feet to jump in the puddles, arms out, looking up into the sky.  Even clouds are unusual here…

Rain leaves standing water in the desert

And structures here are not built with rain in mind: there’s minimal drainage, roads and parking lots are built flat. So, if you get a lot of rain it lies around. Standing water sits on the highways, sometimes an entire lane, sometimes just a pool here and there; and it’s hard to see through the spray.

Emirati drivers are fast under normal conditions and they don’t adjust their driving style for the wet; but nor are they experienced in rainfall driving. The result; the water catches one front wheel and spins them off into the side barrier – they stand beside the remains of their vehicle with a ‘what happened?’ look on their face! So much like the first winter snow.

Roofs that have been parched by the sun and the relentless dusty wind for months are suddenly expected to repel water and, guess what, they don’t. In the shopping mall, the Security Guards were running around placing buckets under the drips until they had no more and hadn’t got half of them covered… They are lucky if the building floor is high enough to stop the flood rushing in through the door – not always the case. …And, you park your car there only to step out into 6 inches of water. There’s no escape.

The rain started at around 7am. By 10 am the Department of Education had declared all UAE schools closed. A Welsh friend picked his son up from school: “Why do we have to go home, daddy?”

“Because it’s raining, son…”

“Because it’s raining??”

“…I know; I know!” (in Wales, excited children run into the street when it stops raining!)

We were sent home from work at 2pm due to a weather warning. The 5-day Dubai Airshow had to close for its final day. An unfortunate week for them – all flying had been cancelled on its first day due to a sand-storm. Not quite as infrequent as rain but not that common.

The colour of the desert changed. The light beige on either side of the road on my drive to work turned to an orange/brown coffee shade after a three-day soaking. I swear you could see the plants quivering as they stretched higher with hydration. Everywhere is showing green, and without the usual sprinkling…

The only road into our subdivision was closed to traffic – it was submerged in more than a foot of water. They brought in a huge water pump to suck the water out and discharge it into the desert. We had to enter through a long-forgotten construction entrance…

Attendees to last year’s Dubai Rugby 7’s tournament were shoulder-to-shoulder in the beer tent enjoying the ambiance as a sudden shower poured down outside, when my friend’s feet suddenly felt strangely cold – he looked down to see he was standing in a 3-inch deep, fast-flowing river; he was so shocked, he ordered another round!

Well, at least we don’t have to shovel it…

Abu Dhabi City - Skyline with Cloud