The Boeing 737 taking part in the World International Inshore Powerboat Competition is particularly impressive!
True, the Beeb are quoting experts as saying this only had a minor effect though I believe?
I would go with the meteorologist and climate scientists' view, much warmer waters around the Arabian Gulf combined with a big temperature gradient in the atmosphere makes big convection. https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/explained-what-caused-the-storm-that-brought-dubai-to-a-standstill-1614834.html Obviously tragic for the families of those who have died and the poorer communities that will have lost everything. By any measure it was a lot of rain, some estimates of 250 mm in 12 hours in places.
According to musks Twitter army it’s all due to a black ops cloud seeding mission that was meant to hit Iran causing massive floods and destroying their ability to launch missiles at Israel but it hit Dubai by mistake.
Sounds legit
The rain was from localised storms and the seeding is a bit of a red herring
The issue locally is that the wadis are rock hard most of the time, so any large rainfall event usually turns into a nasty pluvial(flash flood) event. Cyclone Shaheen in 2021 is a good example. The tropical cyclones are usually fizzled out by time they transition from the Gulf of Oman to the Strait of Hormuz so UAE usually escapes the worst of it.
This appears to have just been local storms not a cyclone but flooding in this region from high intensity precipitation events is not unusual.
Saw some clips. Looked very wet.
Is this climate change/global warming?
Little ironic that one of the largest producers of oil is affected.
The weather is crazy right now.... Last week it was almost 30°C in the Bavarian alps. Yesterday or was close to 0°C and it snowed.
To attribute this single storm event to climate change without conclusive evidence is simply not good science and often just lazy reporting
However the trend globally is for more extreme precipitation events although it varies at a local and regional level. Accurate prediction is not really possible yet but we know the general trend and direction of changes in our future
"Little ironic that one of the largest producers of oil is affected."
Indeed. Poetic justice, hoisted by their own petard, etc etc.
What ai also find amusing/ hypocritical is those stuck in the Dubai airport. If you'd not flown so much and not supported the oil and gas extracting regimes by holidaying there... the climate wouldn't be so ****ed up to cause it in the 1st place.
If you’d not flown so much and not supported the oil and gas extracting regimes by holidaying there… the climate wouldn’t be so ****ed up to cause it in the 1st place
If only it was as simple as stopping flying today will undo 200yrs of industrialisation across the world. Remember COVID and the "baked-in" analogy.....
Luxury international waterpark.
Hopefully some of the people singing the praises of a folly to the Emir's credit card built on slave labour will change their minds. Some interesting stories coming out of the place about how tourists are being locked in malls and refused food and water.
It was an awful place *before* it was underwater. And that video is a prime example of why you don't fly on a low-cost third world airline.
"What ai also find amusing/ hypocritical"
Great typo! Expecting that most of the other posters on STW will out themselves as bots soon.
Apparently they’ve been cloud seeding this week.
Yeah, even if they had, which there is no evidence to say they did, then it wouldn’t cause that much rain.
Family living there.
Given it was widely predicted, authorities sound like they've completely dropped the ball.
Many people without power, water, or gas. City in a state of carnage.
Apparently, many people taking shelter in gyms, etc., without food or water.
The rate of development and growth in Dubai would make the prospect of any sort of effective strategic surface water drainage system nigh on impossible.
In the UK we're already seeing the impact of climate change in the form of change in style of rainfall events; we have tended towards experiencing frequent, shorter duration but more intense rainfall events which has seen an increase in flooding over recent years. Put that sort of rainfall event over somewhere with an ineffective drainage system and you'll experience what they have.
can any of the resident flood experts comment on how much of this is 'dont build cities in the desert' ?
An article I read (can't remember where, sorry, BBC? Somewhere legit, anyway) explained that:
This sort of weather (usually no rain, occasionally buckets down & floods) is normal for the area.
This time was a rare combination which meant a LOT of rain.
Is it climate change? Not necessarily, it could happen anyway but this kind of thing is likely to become more common due to climate change. The answer to "was this one caused by climate change" is impossible to answer right now until all the data has been properly studied, which will take months at least.
Cloud seeding had (probably) nothing to do with it.
*The rate of development and growth in Dubai would make the prospect of any sort of effective strategic surface water drainage system nigh on impossible.*
I kinda assumed they had never even planned for needing such effective drainage – they had 18 months worth of rain in 24 hours!
Really can't believe that flydubai pilot. **** knows what debris is in that water.
oh yeah! did that thing take off in the end?!
I kinda assumed they had never even planned for needing such effective drainage – they had 18 months worth of rain in 24 hours!
How that rain is dispersed over the 18 months is key.
Its not going to be a typical glasgow afternoon shower. It might be only two or three big storms dumping alot. Then a bigbig storm rolls in it shouldn't be a big surprise.
Looks like oman has records from '49 onwards so they must have some idea that this can happen.
There's another important point here which is that the landscape has been shaped over millennia by wind, not by water. In simple terms, the wind is constantly changing the landscape, even the hard crust on top of the sands gets moved about a lot. Compare that to a typical European landscape where water/ice is the key element in landscape formation thus providing very stable and predictable land drainage in comparison. The wadis are basically the recent record of drainage/water movement across the land but they often move over time hence are not as predictable.
The disconnect here is that large dumps of water do not "flow" in the way that we would expect over here in Europe. The propagation of flood water across the landscape is unpredictable at best, hence the impact of high intensity precipitation events. It's a bit like the water wants to flow in a certain way (gravity) but the land is formed into waves of sand due to the wind thus blocking the path of the water
Another aspect to this is the local culture. The further east you go the more fatalistic societies are, so disaster preparation is not a high priority. In the Gulf states there is another added element which is that they are quite rich states and most have authoritarian Govts. These tend to pick up the bill when disasters occur so there is not much insurance in force. Despite people's negative views of insurance, it is a necessary evil and increases resiliency in society especially in developing countries. Ironically in the Gulf states there isn't much insurance as they don't have a burgeoning middle-class - they tend to be either very rich (don't need protection) or very poor (can't afford protection)
Disappointed you didn't slip in Aeolian Processes in there Elshalimo
"Another aspect to this is the local culture. The further east you go the more fatalistic societies are, so disaster preparation is not a high priority"
I don't think that is as relevant as the weak position of the administrative state compared to the executive and corporations. No building or interchange or development ever got blocked because an engineer at the municipality said there was insufficient drainage or too much hard surface or no detention basins etc...
Fatalistic in terms of accepting that bad stuff happens at times and it's beyond your control - so why bother planning for it?
Cat rescue was very touching.
Reading university makes it pretty clear.
Put that sort of rainfall event over somewhere with an ineffective drainage system and you’ll experience what they have.
What drainage system is that?
**** knows what debris is in that water.
At least an engine ingesting a shark wouldn’t cause it to crash…
No building or interchange or development ever got blocked because an engineer at the municipality said there was insufficient drainage or too much hard surface or no detention basins etc…
I’m not sure many, if any, have in this country, building on floodplains and keeping quiet about it seems to be SOP, although sometimes a planning officer with more sense than your average tardigrade takes notice and makes sure precautions are taken, in the case of Monkton Park estate in Chippenham, which has a bund all around it, in case the Avon floods. It hasn’t, since the estate was built… 🤷🏼
I lived there, and have family there now. The floods didn't hit the entire city. Neither where I have lived, nor where family is. The roads were always difficult to drive on with no way to exit if something happens ahead. A road closure could have people sat for hours and hours waiting for it to free up.
Really not sure how many of those amateur amphibious drivers are expecting to get covered by their insurance after deliberately driving into the water.
I’m not sure many, if any, have in this country, building on floodplains and keeping quiet about it seems to be SOP, although sometimes a planning officer with more sense than your average tardigrade takes notice and makes sure precautions are taken, in the case of Monkton Park estate in Chippenham, which has a bund all around it, in case the Avon floods. It hasn’t, since the estate was built… 🤷🏼
I am sure Konagirl Elshalimo and various others will agree with me that you are welcome to pop in and show us how its done. 🤣
New BBC article on the floods
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68897443
Tldr: El Niño causing mayhem, cloud seeding is a distraction, climate change might be guilty but who knows
And by the way, not all attribution studies are reliable and can be taken in good faith
Some of them are funded by commercial divisions of companies that have legal departments that work in..... Yes you've guessed it..climate litigation. 🤔
Just got back from Dubai on Tuesday night. Didn't notice any aftermath from the floods. All seems to be normal now.
Been here since Sunday.
Even when I landed no discernable clue of any issues.
In the Gulf states they just bulldoze all the broken houses and cars after an storm/quake/flood event.
The more authoritarian the regime the sooner they do it. Culturally they need to bury the dead asap so it's like the start of a moving on process.
The bigger question is where did all the water go? Evaporation can only account for so much. They must send the heavy plant machinery in to help with draining
Another concept to wrangle with is the notion that insurance can be haram or halal depending on the local regime and the influence of clerics. If halal, then they have takaful insurance to help them recover
Looks like it's currently sitting in the normally dry storm water basins compared to how they looked in Feb.
