UAE | Weather
Torrential downpour: Chaos on the roads
Daily life thrown out of gear in Sharjah, Dubai as homes and roads flooded, residents blame 'inadequate' drainage system
- By Faisal Masudi, Staff reporter
- Published: 00:00 March 4, 2010
- Image Credit: Xpress/Faisal Masudi
- A van is stranded on a waterlogged road in Sharjah
Sharjah: Heavy downpour bro-ught daily life to a complete standstill this week. The rains washed away routines and turned roads into chaotic, congested streams.
Freak accidents swelled — three people were killed in Sharjah after stepping on exposed electric wires, while more lives were lost in car crashes on slippery Dubai streets, reports said.
Worst hit
The industrial areas were the worst hit, with muddy streams invading shops and flats. Stalled cars, accident wreckage and rubbish dotted the lanes, bringing traffic to a standstill. Few showed up for work and those who braved the weather were stranded.
A Pakistani security officer at a dry ice factory in Sharjah's Industrial Area 3 said he was trapped at the workplace for two days: "The water was waist-high. I had to eat bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner." An Indian manager at a trading firm said: "You needed a heavy-duty cargo truck or a boat to get out."
Residents said the municipality service had fallen short. "This [flooding] happens every time it rains. Where's the drainage system that was hyped by officials?" a manager said. A Bangladeshi said: "We were cut off. There was no transport, no food and no concern for us." But compared to last season's deluge, some neighbourhoods were better off because of efforts to patch up infrastructure.
The wheels rolled down smooth-ly over Buhairah Corniche; traffic at Al Khan was bearable; Abu Shagara was without its gridlock; Rolla was business as usual; parking lots in Al Nahda didn't submerge cars; and the arterial Al Wahda Street stayed open.
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