Dubai Flooded After Heavy Rain: Thousands of Tourists Stranded at UAE Airports

The UAE continues to deal with the aftermath of a powerful downpour that hit the country yesterday. Roads, shopping centers, and airports in Dubai are flooded. Thousands of tourists are stranded at the country's airports. The largest airline, Emirates, has suspended check-in for departures from Dubai Airport.

Heavy rains began in the UAE on Monday. On Tuesday, a second wave of bad weather swept across the country. The Emirates received a year's worth of rainfall in just one day.

Residents in several regions are advised to stay in their homes. Schools have switched to distance learning, and government employees have been shifted to remote work.

Dubai suffered the most from the bad weather. Roads in the country's largest metropolis are submerged. Traffic on some streets in the emirate is impossible.

Internet users are sharing numerous videos from the flooded Dubai Mall. Visitors to one of the world's largest shopping and entertainment centers are wading through knee-deep water.

Additionally, the weather disrupted air traffic: due to heavy rainfall, Dubai International Airport canceled 45 arriving and departing flights on Tuesday. The airport's operations were suspended for about half an hour, but now the terminal is operating as usual.

Meanwhile, thousands of tourists are stranded at the airport, unable to fly to their destinations due to flight delays or cancellations. Getting to the airport has also become a problem - roads leading to the transport hub are flooded, and taxi drivers refuse to take passengers even for large sums of money.

On Wednesday morning, due to problems caused by the rain and road conditions, Emirates announced the suspension of check-in for flights departing from Dubai.

• Emirates is suspending check-in for passengers departing from Dubai International Airport from 8:00 a.m. on April 17 until midnight due to operational issues caused by bad weather and road conditions, - the company announced on its X platform page.

Visitors arriving in Dubai and already en route will continue to be processed. Customers are advised to contact their booking agent or visit the company's website for rebooking.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), as of the morning of April 17, about 2,500 Russians are unable to depart from the UAE. This is almost half of the average daily number of passengers flying to the Arab country from various cities in Russia. Some tourists have been at the airport for more than 17 hours.