A rainy day in Dubai

When I woke up this morning, Dubai Marina was shrouded in fog. It was almost like a big fat cloud had fallen down from the sky. The fog was so heavy I couldn’t see the ground or the neighboring buildings.

We’re used to waking up to clear skies and sunny weather, so when it once in a while rains or when it’s foggy, like today, Instagram and Twitter are overflowing with weather pics (and yes, in case you wonder I’ve already posted the mandatory #Dubaifog pics and tweets today:))

When it rains, Dubai just shuts down. The roads weren’t constructed with heavy rainfall in mind, so even small showers are enough to flood certain, low-lying stretches. Schools close, cars crash and you start wondering whether now is the time to make a run to the grocery store and stock up on emergency supplies of canned food.

It might seem a bit silly, if you, like me, grew up in a country (Denmark) with more or less permanent rain from October to March, because in most cases the “heavy rain” reported down here wouldn’t even classify as a light shower, where I’m from.

Though one day, in the beginning of 2013, it also rained a lot, even after Danish standards, and combined with heavy winds it resulted in the beach at JBR being completely flooded in no time. We were still in our old apartment at that time, so I had front row views to all the action, and I could see how the water was gradually invading the beach.  First I watched it all from a safe distance at the balcony, but as time passed, I felt more and more tempted to go out and take some pictures. So after assuring Poul that I wouldn’t do anything stupid requiring him to come and save me, I grabbed my camera and my hoodie and went down to the beach to capture the scenery.

Strong winds whirled up a lot of sand in the air. The waves were huge and for the first time in months, the beach was almost deserted. I even saw the poor camels, which usually walk around the beach with tourists on their back, stranded in a corner. They weren’t looking too happy about the situation but after a while, a man came and evacuated them to a safer place. That was also the time I decided to evacuate myself back to our apartment on the 16^th floor..

Read my blog post about a very hazy day at the beach in Dubai