Dubai: The worst of the heavy rains and flooding of wadis and dams in Sharjah, Fujariah and Ras Al Khaimah has passed but pockets of light rain will persist across the country until Wednesday, said the national weather bureau.
An unstable weather system drenching northern and eastern reaches of the UAE with some of the heaviest rainfalls in living memory on Sunday should clear in next couple of days, said the National Weather Centre.
“We will have some rain but it become light, not like it was on Sunday and Monday,” said Dr Ahmad Habib, a centre meteorologist, on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
In addition to heavy rains in mountainous areas in the north and east of the country, convective clouds are moving westward along coastal areas and interior areas which brought some pockets of rain to Abu Dhabi as well, Dr Habib told Gulf News.
On Sunday, Fujairah Port witnessed the most amount of rainfall in 24 hours since 1977 at 102.8 millimetres, while the highest cumulative amount was recorded in the Shuwaib region at 94mm.
The NCM also recorded various intensities of rain in Al Manama at 34.6mm, Hatta at 29mm, Al Farfar at 23mm, Jebel Al Habban at 18.3mm, Khorfakkan at 5.8mm, Sir Bani Yas at 1.4mm, Umm Al Quwain at 0.4mm and Jebel Mebreh at 0.2mm.
Abdullah Al Nuaimi, the UAE’s Minister of Public Works, visited Massafi area of Fujairah where heavy rains lashed homes and schools in flood-prone valleys. Some school buses waited until after rain subsided before taking students home.
Major General Mohammad Ahmad Bin Ganim Al Ka’abi, Commander in Chief of Fujairah Police, said the rain did not cause any major damages or casualties apart from some minor accidents spotted by traffic patrols.
The Ministry of Energy and Industry also confirmed that Wadi Siji remained intact after a video of the flooded dam went viral on social media.
The authority reiterated on its Twitter account that the wadi was not damaged by Sunday’s torrential rainfall, and pointed out that a team will carry out a round-the-clock inspection to monitor and evaluate the site.
Wadi Siji was described by Fujairah Tourism as “the oldest dam in the UAE”.
Standing at 10m high and 500m wide, the wadi can store up to 1,200,000 cubic metres of water and is located 49 kilometres north of Fujariah.
Residents are advised to avoid valleys as strong currents can easily sweep away anything in its path. There have been incidents of motorists dying after being swept away by floods.
