#37: The 75-Year Flood (Part II)

This is a continuation of Blog 36: The 75-Year Flood Part I.

While visiting the city of Dubai, I did manage to brave the desert heat and Gulf humidity to visit some outdoor attractions. The Dubai Miracle Garden is the world’s largest flower garden and serves as a sanctuary from the harsh natural environment of the surrounding area.

The baby elephants don’t look so small and innocent up close.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

Emirates has more Airbus A380 super jumbo jets than any other airline, which still doesn’t explain the decision to put a replica of one in the botanical garden and cover it with flowers.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

A giant, colorful clock. Source: Dark Passport Photography

The big thing is to get your picture taken either alone (odd) or with your special person standing inside of the hearts. I felt the need to do neither.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

A 50-foot genie with no added context. Kind of creepy. I was able to get a decent picture because none of the children (or adults) wanted to go anywhere near it.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

Another must-see area for any Dubai tourist is the souks. Translated from the Arabic word for market, these bazaars are located across the Dubai Creek from the Al Fahidi Historic Neighborhood and the Al Seef waterfront promenade. The easiest way to get from one side to the other is to pay 1 dirham (equivalent to 25 U.S. cents) to ride a small motorized water taxi known as an abra. Once in the souks, anyone who is clearly a foreigner should be prepared to get cajoled by shop attendants selling anything that is shiny, smells good, or looks expensive. These are the kind of swindlers who catch your attention by asking a seemingly innocent question such as, “Where are you from?” and seven minutes later have sold you the shirt off your own back for three times what it’s worth and made you think it was your idea.

The Al Seef Promenade gets a lot of grief for being artificially made to look like an ancient marketplace when in reality it isn’t even a decade old and was purpose-built for tourism.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

American convenience stores in the “historic” Al Seef Promenade. Just like the ancient days (sarcasm). Source: Dark Passport Photography

The abra are tiny wooden boats with benches affixed to the deck. They are about as safe as they look. The only solace I felt as our “captain” rammed us into the next closest boat while yelling something in Bengali was that I knew I could make the 200-foot swim to shore if we sank.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

Each souk tries to outdo the next with its elaborate decorations.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

The colorful and aromatic spices on display are sure to attract attention.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

Textiles are available in the souks as well, such as the vibrant colors of cashmere shown here.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

The sightseeing aspect of this trip soon came to an abrupt end. Sure, we had a lot of work to do. But the real problem was the natural disaster that was about to hit us.

The average annual rainfall in the desert city of Dubai is about three inches. During this trip, we experienced an unprecedented six inches of rain in only 24 hours. Yes, that means two years of rain in a single day. In the 75-year recorded history of weather in Dubai, nothing like this had ever happened before. This normally dry environment, now filled with buildings and roads, was built without consideration for the occasional flood. It only took a few hours for the chaos to ensue. Hundreds of waterlogged cars were left abandoned on the flooded roadways, their occupants forced to wade home for miles through murky waist-deep water. Underground garages became aquariums. Leaks sprang up in concealed passageways meant for electrical wiring and communications cables, knocking out power and internet in brand new luxury structures that were built with quantity not quality in mind. Fire alarms rang throughout the city as the water shorted out their circuit boards. Soaked ceiling tiles and wet slabs of sheetrock fell from above. It was a catastrophe. And the worst part was nobody could leave.

I took this picture early on, before the water rose even higher.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

The more deeply-flooded roads became littered with broken down vehicles.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

Even once the rain began to subside, there was another major problem: Despite being the world’s busiest international airport, the second largest building in the world, and the largest airport terminal in the world; the famous Dubai International Airport ceased operations during most of the storm. The canceled flights and resultant backlog left many thousands of people, including yours truly, stranded in the airport for several days. The most luxurious airport in the world was reduced to the most luxurious refugee camp in the world as the bathrooms became overwhelmed the restaurants ran out of food.

Imagine what it takes to make the largest airport terminal on the planet this crowded.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

People began using their luggage and blankets to create little forts in the terminal.
Source: Dark Passport Photography

Someone was clever enough to discover that pulling up certain floor tiles revealed hidden electrical outlets to charge mobile phones. Source: Dark Passport Photography

At the peak of the chaos, our U.S. government travel agency found no planes out of the country for five days. By the time it was all said and done, I lost track of the flights I experienced that were canceled, overbooked, and delayed. I completely missed some and was standby for others. Ironically, my very last connecting leg home was the most pleasant of the entire trip. I managed to get far enough way from the UAE at that point to board a redeye that wasn’t at capacity. The flight attendants even asked if I wanted a free upgrade to the next higher class. “No, thank you.” I replied as I looked down at the entire row I had completely to myself. “I have everything I need here.”

As I arranged my collection of pillows and blankets to form a makeshift bed across three Boeing 777 economy seats, I took a peek out the window at an incredible sunset. After the flight crew dimmed the cabin lights and I curled up to the relaxing white-noise of turbofan jet engines blasting us towards the United States, I closed my eyes and thought, “What a life.”