Dubai: To avoid a repeat of Wednesday's crawl back home in snail-paced traffic, employees have opted to work from home on Thursday and steer clear from the roads altogether.
Earlier on Thursday, authorities warned motorists against using the popular Shaikh Zayed Road due to flooding.
In a tweet, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) urged Dubai road-users heading to and from Abu Dhabi to use Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road due to the accumulation of rain water on Shaikh Zayed Road.
Residents, however, said their decision to remain at home on Thursday was already made the previous night, as motorists were stuck in traffic for hours on way home.
"I picked up my two children from school on Wednesday at around noon, and it took me over an hour and a half to get from Mirdif to Al Barsha," said Noora Al Hammadi, who works in the public sector.
"I could not leave the children alone at home today, and also, I imagined that the traffic would be completely chaotic today as well," she said.
RTA announces the return of traffic flow back to normal on Shk. Zayed road direction Abu Dhabi 1/2 #DubaiRains— RTA (@RTA_Dubai) March 10, 2016
after draining the rain water and reopening all lanes in that direction. 2/2 #DubaiRains— RTA (@RTA_Dubai) March 10, 2016
RTA announces the partial return of traffic on Shk. Zayed Road opening two lanes to traffic coming from Abu Dhabi to Dubai after 1/3— RTA (@RTA_Dubai) March 10, 2016
draining the rain water. RTA requests the road users heading towards Abu Dhabi to continue using alternative 2/3— RTA (@RTA_Dubai) March 10, 2016
routes towards Abu Dhabi which are Shk. Mohammed bin Zayed road and Emirates Road. 3/3— RTA (@RTA_Dubai) March 10, 2016
Nithin, an IT engineer who lives in Sharjah and works in Jebel Ali, did not have the energy to face a repeat of Wednesday night's tailbacks, and is one of the many residents across the emirates who chose to work from home on Thursday.
"I reached home after three hours and was completely exhausted. I was not sure how the weather would be today, so thought it wiser to play safe and work from home instead."
When contacted by Gulf News, several companies confirmed that in anticipation to storms that were expected to break out on Thursday, management teams gave their employees the option to either take the day off or work from home.
A public relations firm based in Media City, that declined to be named, said that although no official circular was passed, "employees who lived in flooded areas, such as in the Discovery Gardens or Silicone Oasis, were given the option of taking the day off or to work from home."
