UAE residents recount Wednesday ordeal

Abu Dhabi: In the bright light, the widespread damage caused by Wednesday’s storm in the capital was clearly evident on Thursday.

Residents were still taking stock of the repairs they had to make, and sharing stories of how they had got through the previous day. While many reported damages to their office buildings and cars, and detailed long drives back home, it appeared that most residences had been spared from the effects of the storm.

Mohammad Hijaz, a finance analyst who lives in Sharjah, said he had been driving to Abu Dhabi International Airport to drop off his friend.

“He was due to fly at 9pm, but the roadblocks and accidents along the way meant he did not make the flight. We only reached Abu Dhabi at 11pm after getting past all the traffic, and my friend had to reschedule his trip,” Hijaz told Gulf News.

“I then had no choice but to book a hotel in Abu Dhabi since all the roads back to Dubai were blocked. I am just glad I made it there in one piece,” he added.

Apart from damage to cars from uprooted trees and debris, many parking lot sunshades had also fallen in.

Mohammad Salem Mohammad, a retired 57-year-old Emirati, said one of his six cars was damaged when the shades caved in.

“I live in Mohammad Bin Zayed City and the winds were crazy here. I was able to move five of the cars, but the last one sustained damage. My garage door was also ripped apart and sections of my garden have been torn down,” he said.

The resident said he hasn’t yet approached contractors to repair the damage, but he estimates that he will have to shell out more than Dh10,000.

Suhail Hassoneh, 23, a mechanical aerospace engineer from Jordan, said his brother’s car had also been damaged by falling sunshades.

“He hasn’t yet repaired the car because there were talks of another storm today [Thursday]. He is not able to drive in it for the moment, and the repairs will probably cost him at least Dh3,000,” he said.

Hassoneh also witnessed a water tank fall off the roof of a building next to his home.

“Thankfully, our house was safe and no one was caught under the falling water tank,” he said.

Rawan L, 26, a chemical engineer from Canada and mother-of-two, was even luckier. She lives in an apartment building on Corniche Road, which saw massive damage due to its proximity to the coastline. Window glass was shattered and cracked in apartments facing the Corniche in Rawan’s building.

“Fortunately nothing was damaged on our floor and we were able to stay on in our apartment,” she said.

There were also many other reports of shattered windows in high-rise office towers.

Mohammad E, a Bangladeshi resident, said windows on the ground and mezzanine floor of his office on Khalifa Street had been broken.

“The heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems also collapsed on some floors. Thankfully, no one one was injured, and we all waited a while in the fire exits before heading home early. Today, we are all back at work and workers on affected floors have been moved to other stations,” he said.

Ahmad Yaser, 23, a Jordanian engineer, said he had narrowly missed a falling palm tree on Corniche Road.

“I am so relieved that I was not hurt and that my car was spared too. After all, the weather was insane and there were so many accidents,” he added.