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UAE summer: Residents report cracked walls, jammed doors as humidity rises

Experts have warned that regular maintenance of air-conditioning units is extremely important during the hot weather

Published: Tue 23 Jul 2024, 6:05 PM

Updated: Wed 24 Jul 2024, 11:17 AM

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Dubai resident Noora T. is in the process of replacing her refrigerator after it got damaged because of the increasing humidity in the country.

“When I woke up in the morning, the fridge was not cooling and all my food was spoilt,” she said. “I got a serviceman to check it and he said that the excessive humidity in my house had caused the damage. One of the air conditioners in my house was also ruined because of the humidity.”

Noora is one of the several residents across the country who are suffering damages to their houses due to the extremely high humidity. In the last couple of days, humidity has hit over 80 per cent in several parts of the country.

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Even though temperatures averaged around the 40 degree mark, the National Centre of Meteorology reflected the relative humidity between 70 per cent and 95 per cent in coastal and island areas and between 70 per cent and 90 per cent in internal areas.

The Emirati said that this was one of the first times she has suffered such an issue. “We have been having construction work going on at my house so there has been a lot of people going in and out of the house,” she said. “I am not sure if that is the reason for this issue. I have already placed orders for a new fridge and AC but I have also ordered a dehumidifier so that this doesn’t happen again.”

Crack on the wall

For Mohammed Iqbal, the humidity resulted in a crack on his wall. “I live in an apartment near Satwa and the intense humidity has caused a crack in my wall,” he said. “This caused my huge wall mirror to fall off. Luckily, I had my sofa under it so the mirror didn’t crack.”

The Bangladeshi expat said that he has been living in the apartment for over 12 years and this is the first time he has faced an issue of this sort. “I feel like this year’s summer and humidity has been one of the worst in my two decades in the UAE,” he said. “I have water dripping from my false ceiling throughout the day. I have buckets and rags spread throughout the house so that they don’t cause puddles in the house. Sometimes the water comes pouring out of the ceiling.”

Another expat, Mehnaz A., said that the front door as well as the gate of her Jumeirah villa had become jammed since summer began this year. “We have to use a certain amount of force as well as technique to be able to open the door,” she said. “We have asked the landlord to help us get it fixed but he is currently travelling, so we have to wait until he is back.”

Experts have warned that regular maintenance of air-conditioning units is extremely important during the hot weather.

For Remraam resident Hiba Sakkir, an unusually high electricity bill was the first sign that something was wrong. “The humidity was high, and the AC cooling was low,” she said. “Our electricity bill was also extremely high. Water was dripping off the ceiling. Eventually, we got a technician to come look at our AC vents. We live close to a construction site and apparently our AC filter had accumulated dust. The maintenance team cleaned it and now everything is back to normal.”

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