Dubai: Two Emirati families managed to leave the South Indian state of Kerala after they were trapped because of floods for four days.
Saeed Ahman Al Shehi, an Emirati citizen from Al Jeer area in Ras Al Khaimah, along with his old parents and sister, travelled to Kerala for treatment and tourism one week ago.
He said the weather was fine when they arrived in the city but it changed badly last Wednesday, when the city was affected by floods following heavy rain and strong storms. Al Shehi said the hotel where they were staying in was severely flooded.
“We were encouraged to leave the hotel and look for another one using an old transportation. We finally found a new hotel that was safe from flooding,” he said.
Saeed Al Shehi said they stayed for 36 hours at the new hotel, which was affected by flooding, the reason why they left it and decided to come back to the UAE. “We were stranded on the roads until we found a big truck carrying an Indian family that survived the flooding. We then managed to travel by train to Thiruvananthapuram airport,” Trivandrum said.
He hopes to secure return tickets to the UAE soon.
Mohammad Saeed Bin Al Qateef Al Shehi, a relative of the other family comprising four members, said they had to move from one hotel to another until they managed to reach the airport in Kerala capital.
Mohammad Al Shehi lauded efforts by Ahmad Sari Al Mazroui, undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, who contacted the stranded families and secured transportation for them to safe places in preparation to bring them back.
Mohammad Al Shehi commended the kind gestures by Indian families in Kerala who provided the Emirati tourists with food, water and transportation in collaboration with the competent authorities at the ministry to ensure their safe exit from the flood-affected areas.
