British holidaymakers' Dubai nightmare: Family sleep on shopping mall floor ... trends now
A British family have been forced to sleep on the floor of a shopping mall in Dubai overnight after being caught in flooding that has caused travel chaos in the Emirate.
The city was left under feet of water after year and a half's worth of rain was dumped on it in a matter of hours, with people forced to abandon their luxury cars in the streets.
Jonathan Rodgers, who is in the city with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, told MailOnline they were forced to sleep on the floor of the Mall of the Emirates overnight as rising waters made it impossible to leave.
The family-of-three, along with dozens of others, became trapped when the roads around the building were flooded and all Dubai Metro services were cancelled due to the conditions.
He said they had been left on their own with 'no information' for hours on end with 'customers and staff all stranded together'.
Were caught in the storm in Dubai? Email [email protected]
Vehicles are left stuck on the roads of Dubai after Tuesday's apocalyptic storm which dropped more than a year's worth of rain on the city in a matter of hours
The roads outside the Mall of the Emirates were left flooded overnight, trapping staff and customers in the building
People gather outside the gates to the Dubai Metro after services were cancelled due to flooding from the storm
Debris hangs from the ceiling at the Mall of the Emirates after the heavy rain caused water damage to the building
To add insult to injury, staff at the mall closed the toilets during the night, he claimed.
And despite the waters receding to an extent, the roads are still impassable as there is 'no way past ambulance and recovery vehicles stranded in the road', he said.
His words were echoed by Abi Cramp, who is stuck in the city after flying out to celebrate a friend's birthday.
She said: 'Yesterday felt like the apocalypse. There was a point when we looked outside during the middle of the afternoon - it was pitch black as the wind and rain pelted the windows while lightning cracked the sky.
'The pictures don't do it justice, but it did feel like something out of the The Day After Tomorrow.
'The aftermath felt like the Titanic. Most of the roads are flooded. We had to scale walls to avoid wading through calf-high puddles.
'Most car parks are underwater, and the city was like a ghost town when we headed to get dinner.'
She added that her flight home has already been delayed after the plane was diverted to Kuwait as it could land at the airport.
British YouTuber Calvin Fehr, who was in the city on business, shared his ordeal trying to leave the city as his flight back to the UK was delayed for hours.
Posting on TikTok, the car dealer, shared videos of torrential rain on the runway at Dubai International Airport as the Emirates aircraft he was on stood idle with 'waves going around us'.
'Literally, the whole runway is one big puddle', he told his fans.
'We are on an Emirates flight from Dubai to London Heathrow, it was meant to take off four hours ago and look out the window, we've got flood sin Dubai at the minute, and the whole airport is flooded.
'The weather's been terrible, the rain's calmed down a little bit now but we not really got any indication of what's going on. Fun and games.
The weather's been amazing all week and then this morning it started chucking it down. Everyone's getting a bit impatient.'
After finally taking off he shared aerial footage of the city showing huge traffic jams with vehicles unable to get through the floodwater.
Video taken from a plane at Dubai International Airport on Tuesday shows floodwaters surrounding the terminal
The view from an Emirates plane as it stands idle waiting to take-off following the storm on Tuesday
YouTuber Calvin Kehr filmed himself as his flight to the UK was delayed by more than four hours
After take-off he shared footage showing huge queues on the roads of the city as vehicles were left stranded in floodwaters
Shocking videos shared on social media showed how cars were filled with water, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their vehicles and swim to safety. Some cars were completely submerged, with the top of their roofs barely breaking the water's surface
Cars were filled with water, forcing people to abandon their vehicles
Motorisits drive along a flooded street following heavy rains in Dubai early on April 17, 2024
The delays to departures left passengers trying to transit through Dubai to Europe frustrated.
Writing on X, one person who was trying to make their way to Britain, vented their frustration at their airline 'leaving us in limbo'.
The chaos also meant delays and cancellations for those travelling to Dubai.
One plane of British Airways customers were frustrated after being left stuck more than 540 miles away from their destination in Kuwait as they could not land.
Annalisa Macklin tweeted: 'Stuck at Kuwait airport instead of Dubai - no staff on the ground. What is going on???'
Dubai's airport, which is the world's busiest air hub for international passengers, confirmed a halt to arrivals at around 3.30pm GMT before announcing a 'gradual resumption' over two hours
