Wednesday 9 March 2016

"Severe weather" alert!

Yes, I understand that it might seem weird that I write about our weather for three days in a row - but, it feels even more weird that the weather here in the UAE is actually something to write about, for once!
The weather at the moment is so bizarre, in our two years here I haven't seen anything like it. Early, early this morning I woke up to hammering noise on the balcony, had a look outside and saw - hail! It's true! Hail big as sugar lumps!

The rain and heavy thunderstorms are predicted to continue until tomorrow evening, so the chaos continues... For someone coming from Scandinavia where rain is nothing unusual, and having lived in the rainforest on Borneo for seven years, well - some rain is in a way rather enjoyable!
But all the downpour unfortunately have nowhere to go here, due to lack of proper drainage systems, gutters etc; since 99% of the time rain is really not an issue! So it floods, everywhere. My Facebook feed is full of nothing but rainy photos and films from all around the emirate at the moment!

All schools in Abu Dhabi got suspended for today, for the safety of the children. Oaw, I wish we would have had no school for rainy days when I grew up! ;)
A nearby school to ours experienced some serious issues yesterday though when an outer structure gave way for the rain and came crashing down over the entrance! Fortunately no students were left at school, and nobody got hurt. I've heard that the library in our school has been flooded, I really hope the damages are not too big.

Oh my, as I write this, at 11 o'clock in the morning, it's as dark outside as in the evening as another thunderstorm is pulling in - our poor plants are lying flat against the ground in the heavy winds and I've just lined all our windows with towels as it's raining in!
It sure is picking up! I might have to take back my "enjoyable" comment above, as I read about offices downtown being evacuated, glass panels falling off tall buildings, trees getting uprooted, flagpoles bending 45 degrees and the government sending out text messages urging people to remain indoors... I don't think we will be going anywhere today!

Edit: No school tomorrow either. Good decision from ADEC I think. Better safe than sorry.

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