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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Motorists had another agonising day on the roads as heavy rains flooded most of the busy streets while some areas became small ponds trapping drivers who drove through.
Most arterial roads were clogged with vehicles, which moved bumper to bumper.
"I got stranded on Al Seef Road and water started seeping into my car. I saw some people in four-wheel drives offering lifts to those stuck," said Hanif Mohammad.
Things were even worse on Al Fahidi Street which was flooded until Al Shababna Roundabout. Prakash Guha a resident of Al Fahidi Street, said it took him two-and-a-half hours to reach his office on Shaikh Zayed Road.
Motorists coming from Sharjah were caught off-guard by flooding in the area just before Al Garhoud Bridge.
"It was miserable. The second and third lanes were submerged in water," said Anita K. Zacheria, a Sharjah resident.
Samar Abdul Al Rahman, a customer service agent, said he had a horrible time from King Faisal Street to the Al Garhoud area.
"The Municipality should be better equipped to handle such situations," he said.
Another motorist, Asma Suleiman, a sales executive, said the Municipality should have started pumping out the water during the night.
"The situation would not have been so bad," she said.
In many areas of Sharjah traffic came to a standstill as police tried desperately to clear the gridlock. The hardest hit was Al Khan, which was knee-high in water, the Clock Tower Roundabout on Al Zahra Road, King Faisal Street and King Abdul Aziz road, motorists said.
Many people living in the Crystal Plaza building on the Buheira Corniche had to evacuate their apartments as water had seeped through the ceiling.
Ajman was also hit hard with most major roads such as Al Nuaimi, Al Bustan, Al Karama and the Industrial Area becoming slippery, muddy lakes.
"Municipal staff are working hard to clear the water off the streets," said Colonel Ali Abdullah Alwan, Chief of Ajman Police.
No major traffic accidents were reported from Ajman.
"We advise people to drive carefully during the rain,"said the Ajman police chief.
Traffic was very slow from Ajman and Sharjah yesterday as people tried to get to work. At the National Paints Roundabout on Emirates Road traffic came to a standstill.
Construction work at many sites came to a halt because of the windy weather.
Most arterial roads were clogged with vehicles, which moved bumper to bumper.
"I got stranded on Al Seef Road and water started seeping into my car. I saw some people in four-wheel drives offering lifts to those stuck," said Hanif Mohammad.
Things were even worse on Al Fahidi Street which was flooded until Al Shababna Roundabout. Prakash Guha a resident of Al Fahidi Street, said it took him two-and-a-half hours to reach his office on Shaikh Zayed Road.
Motorists coming from Sharjah were caught off-guard by flooding in the area just before Al Garhoud Bridge.
"It was miserable. The second and third lanes were submerged in water," said Anita K. Zacheria, a Sharjah resident.
Samar Abdul Al Rahman, a customer service agent, said he had a horrible time from King Faisal Street to the Al Garhoud area.
"The Municipality should be better equipped to handle such situations," he said.
Another motorist, Asma Suleiman, a sales executive, said the Municipality should have started pumping out the water during the night.
"The situation would not have been so bad," she said.
In many areas of Sharjah traffic came to a standstill as police tried desperately to clear the gridlock. The hardest hit was Al Khan, which was knee-high in water, the Clock Tower Roundabout on Al Zahra Road, King Faisal Street and King Abdul Aziz road, motorists said.
Many people living in the Crystal Plaza building on the Buheira Corniche had to evacuate their apartments as water had seeped through the ceiling.
Ajman was also hit hard with most major roads such as Al Nuaimi, Al Bustan, Al Karama and the Industrial Area becoming slippery, muddy lakes.
"Municipal staff are working hard to clear the water off the streets," said Colonel Ali Abdullah Alwan, Chief of Ajman Police.
No major traffic accidents were reported from Ajman.
"We advise people to drive carefully during the rain,"said the Ajman police chief.
Traffic was very slow from Ajman and Sharjah yesterday as people tried to get to work. At the National Paints Roundabout on Emirates Road traffic came to a standstill.
Construction work at many sites came to a halt because of the windy weather.
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The rain in Dubai will surpass the highest recorded over the years of 81.9mm in January, according to duty forecaster Dr S.K. Gupta.
Since Monday evening the skies have dumped 52mm of rain on Dubai and 34.6mm more was recorded since 4am and 1pm on Tuesday. “This could well be the rainiest January in recorded history,” he said.
“We have had dry spells over the past couple of years and this is good news.”
The reason for the heavy rain is due to the low pressure system, which is parked over the emirates, and adding to that is a trough, a depression, which has accentuated the unstable weather, says the forecaster.
The gusty westerly winds are blowing at 25 knots offshore and a marine warning is out for Wednesday also, he said.
Residents can expect bright sunny spells from Wednesday afternoon onwards. Nights will be cold again on Thursday with temperatures dipping to 10 degrees Celsius.
Weathermen have also forecast thunderstorms, with the wet weather scheduled to continue for another few days.
However, the continuous cloudy conditions have raised the unusually low temperatures to somewhat pleasant levels.
On Monday, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah and other cities experienced scattered rain.
Scattered rain accompanied by thunder is expected all over the country for the next few days, said the weathermen.
“We expect rain and occasional thunder with fresh winds in different parts of the UAE,” said a weatherman at the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology on Monday.
There are chances of further dip in temperature. Wind speed would be between 10 to 16 knots over land, but could reach 20 knots at times.
Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea.
The developing area of Al Nahada, Sharjah has been particularly affected.
It is referred to as the Shaikh Zayed Rd of Sharjah due to the new building projects taking place.
However, proper roads have yet to be laid out so residents are forced to park their cars on unleveled dirt roads.
“I am unable to reach my car which is parked 4m from my building with all four of my cars tyres partially submerged in water. I have to get to work so had to go in a tow vehicle. The Sharjah Municipality needs to lay down roads in these areas instead of implementing new building projects.” Said Adil Hassan, an Egyptian resident of Al Nadha, Sharjah.
Meanwhile the traffic is moving at a snail’s pace on the main Al Khan road towards Dubai and traffic is at a complete stand still on the Al Tawaa’wun Mall road going towards Dubai.
Most of the traffic from these roads comes from the Al Khan, Buhaira and Corniche areas.
The traffic situation is worse on the roads that lead to the industrial Sharjah area due to the presence of heavy vehicles. There is, however, a free flow of traffic from Dubai to Sharjah on the Itihad road.
Meanwhile, school buses which usually pick up school children from the road sides are today doing so from the children’s individual buildings at Gamal, Abdul Nassar, Al Nahada and Al Khan.
The traffic problem has led the Our English High School in Sharjah to cancel the Grade VI Maths exam scheduled for today.
driving in rainy and unstable weather requires more caution and attention, as speeding on wet roads causes vehicles to slide and lose control.