Dubai, a city located in the United Arab Emirates, recently faced one of the worst rains in its history, causing flooding and inconvenience for residents and tourists. The storm, which occurred last Tuesday (16), resulted in a volume of rain that exceeded annual expectations.
According to the state-run WAM news agency, Dubai recorded a total of 142 millimeters of rain in less than 48 hours, considerably higher than expected for the entire year, estimated at 94.7 millimeters.
The heavy rain also affected other neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan and Oman,but the United Arab Emirates was the most impacted. So far, according to local officials, 150 people have died, 600 animals have also survived, and more than 1,200 homes have been destroyed in the Middle East.
Experts hypothesize that the technique known as “cloud seeding” may have played a role in this scenario. Cloud seeding involves human interventions to stimulate the formation of rainfall, usually by bombarding clouds with chemicals.
This practice is commonly employed in arid regions such as the United Arab Emirates, which have many desalination plants and rely on rainfall for drinking water.
According to reports from local meteorologists, there would have been seven flights for cloud seeding before the storms. However, the government has not officially confirmed these flights, only denying that such activity took place during the Tuesday of the extreme weather event.
The UAE’s National Meteorological Center, which is responsible for cloud seeding, has not yet commented on the matter.
Want to stay on top of the day’s top news? Click here and join our WhatsApp channel.