Saturday, November 22, 2008

Here Comes the Rain Again

I really wish I was joking. Rain is such a foreign concept here that bad things happen whenever cats and dogs actually do fall from the sky. Take last week for example - at 4am, Dubai received 6 millimeters of rain. By the time I woke up, it was sunny out, and it just looked like someone had watered the plants - pretty much dry. However, in those two hours, there were 47 rain-related accidents, including two fatalities.

Every year, there are usually three or four days in January when it rains. Last year, it came on the heels of George Bush's visit to Dubai, which only made matters worse. Entire neighborhoods shut down due to flooding (there's no sewer system here), roofs collapsed (made are just wood or fabric), and apartments in skyscrapers found themselves with water fountains in their bedrooms.

But don't wory - Dubai doesn't make the same mistake twice! Emaar, the largest building developer here, is informing all of their tenants that rain doesn't need to be a death sentence. Alas, you too can survive the rain! Above is the actual flyer we received under our door last week. Click Here to read the back page - helpful tips for anyone looking to ride out the rain!

2 comments:

udjim said...

At least if the worst happens, you have an ample supply of the most important ingredient for fighting flooding - sandbags.

nzm said...

Hey guys - really enjoying your blog and your zest for life and loving what you do really comes through.

However, I've got to tell you that it doesn't rain cats and dogs in the ME - it rains camels and donkeys!

cheers
Michele (nzm)