Friday thunderstorm hampers life, plans in UAE

The continuous rains has resulted in flooding in some areas in Dubai particularly in Discovery Gardens

While it was always a welcome occurrence, the early morning thunderstorm coupled with rain on Friday caused inconvenience to some residents who had weekend plans. It also resulted in flight cancellations in the Capital and disruption of business, particularly for food truckers.
Abu Dhabi witnessed moderate to heavy rain from early morning till mid-day. Strong winds started from late hours on Thursday night and by Friday 3am, the Capital was completely drenched. Showers also covered areas of Al Ain and Al Ruwais and a two-day community event - 'Weekends at the Oasis' - in Al Ain was cancelled.
The continuous rain has resulted in flooding in some areas in Dubai particularly in Discovery Gardens, forcing water pumps to work double time. Daily life was also disrupted in Sharjah as strong winds took over the emirate and heavy rains came pouring down while strong winds were experienced in Ajman and RAK police blocked the roads to the Jebel Jais and Al Beeh Valley because of the heavy showers.
"I think the weather is awesome and a nuisance all at the same time," American expat Merritt Mckenna told Khaleej Times."It's a weekend and I had a beautiful outdoor swim and brunch plans that are now brunch only."
Businesses, especially food truckers, have felt the pinch more.
"More than 60 vendors who were supposed to participate in our outdoor events this weekend were affected. We had to cancel four different events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi because of the weather condition," said Vishal Mahajan, owner Core ME, the organisers of  Truckers and Street Food Market DXB.
"In many cultures rain is seen as a blessing, the same is true in the UAE. However, we also have to acknowledge the effect it has on businesses, with many people choosing to stay in the comfort of their homes rather than venturing out and risk getting wet," added Ahmed Hassan, owner of Wingsters UAE.
Alexandre Teodoresco, founder of Truckers DXB, said: "For us working in the events industry this can have a catastrophic impact on our industry and businesses. It's really heartbreaking, you work for months on an event, invest a lot of money, flying people in, doing the set up getting your followers excited, and everything can be ruined because of the rain.
But not even the rain has stopped visitors going to the Global Village. The management said the rain has not made big impact on the number of their visitors. A brief statement they sent mentioned: "Global Village is welcoming its guests today from 4pm until 1am as usual."
Meanwhile, for Polish expat Dora Mroz, a volunteer at Stray Dogs Centre UAQ, her top concern is for the stray dogs they are rehabilitating at the kennel. "Our volunteers will not be able to walk the dogs and they will be locked throughout the whole weekend instead of getting their weekend walk."
(with inputs from Ashwani Kumar)
angel@khaleejtimes.com