sharjah after the storm

The winter months in the UAE bring relief from the 120°F summer. Winter is also the "rainy season." I say "rainy" because the average annual rainfall in the coastal region of the UAE is less than 5 inches. (A south Georgia thunderstorm laughs at the puny rain clouds of the Emirates.)

With hardly any rain, there is little reason to invest in a proper drainage system. When it does precipitate, the rain amounts to a light drizzle. After several days of on again, off again drizzle, Mother Nature opened up on January 28.

Tophi and I were just about to head out for a walk to neighboring emirate Ajman when the storm hit. The power was knocked out, and our hotel's restaurant was leaking badly around the doors and windows. We were trapped in the restaurant until things settled down. We watched outdoor furniture slide around as the sky turned a dark gray.

As we ventured out, the streets were flooding, and drivers didn't know quite what to do. All of the palm trees were deformed from the wind.

The remains of a beach fair got blown around. See that carousel? It was going around backwards like something from a Stephen King novel.

Where's the palm tree?

Oh! What's it doing there?

The wind uprooted several of the palm trees that line the road.

Debris was blown onto the streets in many places.

This flooded bus station was on the way to Ajman.

The sign reads "Apex Dewatering" in front of a construction site. The water is above the curb in this picture.

The wind was pretty intense, and construction sites were easy targets for damage. The sad part is that many of these sites were abandoned anyway -- who knows when this will get cleaned up.

Just as the southern communities in the United States were not equipped to deal with this winter's storms, the UAE is unprepared for a deluge. Most of the streets don't have drainage systems because usually the water can evaporate quickly enough.

The Met Office forecasts more storms are on their way. I'll keep you posted with more photos. There are more photos from our walk after the storm here.

Posted in: ajman,leisure photos,sharjah,weather