Dubai’s airport, one of the world’s busiest, suffered a third consecutive day of severe disruption on Thursday after the United Arab Emirates desert was hit by the heaviest rainfall on record.

Dubai’s state-owned flag carrier Emirates and its sister airline flydubai resumed check-in procedures on Wednesday after asking passengers not to leave as thousands of delayed passengers clogged the airport.

Dubai Airports, which handles more international passengers than any other airport, hopes to return to “something close to normal” within 24 hours, chief executive Paul Griffiths told AFP.

Heavy rains flooded the Middle East’s financial hub, including homes, shopping malls, offices and highways, on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing some 1,244 flight cancellations and 41 flight diversions.

Traffic congestion remained severe on Thursday, two days after the storm, with at least one major road completely blocked by water and multiple intersections cut off by flooding.

Climate experts said the rainfall was the heaviest in the UAE since records began 75 years ago and was consistent with changes caused by global warming.

“There is no news here,” Karim Elgendy, associate director at consultancy Buro Happold and associate fellow at Britain’s Chatham House think tank, told AFP.

“We expect rainfall variability to increase, meaning more extreme events, more droughts and increased rainfall intensity when it does rain.

‘deeply saddened’

There was chaos at Dubai Airport as a large number of stranded passengers shouted for flight information.

Although Emirates and flydubai have resumed check-in, more than 200 flights are still listed as delayed or canceled on the airport’s website.

Griffiths said it was “challenging” to get the airport fully operational, with supplies and staff stranded on flooded roads.

“Getting supplies, people and all the necessary items to the airport to help resume flight schedules is a huge challenge because all the roads are blocked,” he said in an interview.

“We’re just hoping that the level of customer service we’re able to provide will go some way to mitigating the impact we’re having on our customers. But obviously, we’re deeply distressed by all the disruption and concern that’s been created,” he added.

An elderly couple’s 14-hour flight from Brisbane was diverted for 24 hours on Tuesday before they were unable to reach their hotel due to flooding.

“This is just the beginning of our holiday and I want to go home but I don’t know how,” a tearful Jolie, 72, told AFP.

“When they landed the plane at this abandoned airport with no terminal and no other planes, I thought we were being hijacked by terrorists,” she added, without giving her last name.

temporary ferry

Although schools and public sector offices have been closed until next week, traffic is back on the roads, with some motorists finding their routes blocked and driving the wrong way on the highway.

As goods failed to arrive, supermarket shelves were empty and retail workers said they were forced to spend the night or sleep in hotels because they were unable to return home.

“We’re working, but the problem is we haven’t received the chicken,” said an employee at a chicken restaurant that didn’t have chicken or fries on display.

“Due to the flooding, deliveries can’t get here.”

In the Argen district, a man carried passengers in a canoe through flooded streets.

Since taxis are difficult to book and hail, private motorists are forced to stop in the queues and offer rides at inflated prices.

British tourist Chris Moss, 30, was among those searching for a taxi as he tried to get to the airport and find his lost luggage.

“When we arrived, the luggage area was packed with luggage, but my luggage was nowhere to be seen,” Moss said. His flight was hastily booked after the original flight was cancelled, and was delayed by five hours.

“It was still on the plane because the baggage area was flooded and they couldn’t get it off.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)