Rainy weather in UAE = Armageddon

Brace yourself, but yesterday I wore a long-sleeved shirt.

In the desert. Because it was actually cold.

I awoke around 7.30am and there were clouds in the sky. Real clouds! They were dark. And they were angry. We had not felt the comfortable sensation of rain falling in this land for some time now. At least a few months based on my calculations. 

Rain soaked the country and there were photos in The National that showed hail had even fallen. Social media was awash with photos of some snow on the side of roads.

One woman was quoted as saying she was 'completely astonished' by the weather and that 'nothing like this has happened since 1993.'

Now I like to kid around with my 'way back when dates' from the 1990's, too:

"Whoa, I haven't heard this song since '95..."

--OR--

"I haven't dunked a basketball since Desert Storm..."

Maybe this woman was playing on that. What really happened in 1993 that incited her reference?

Anyway, reading about the driving issues during inclement weather can be funny and downright scary at the same time. Like when a drop of rain falls, everything breaks down...

According to this article in yesterday's edition, one person died and three were injured in seven road accidents blamed on rainy weather in Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, two more died as 556 road incidents were reported.

Now I don't know what the difference between 'road accidents' and 'road incidents' are but doesn't that seem like a big disparity of numbers between the two cities? Are Abu Dhabi drivers less likely to freak out behind the wheel during rainy weather?? Car insurance companies in Dubai must be licking their lips at those numbers.

As one colleague pointed out -- and this was taken directly from the article -- the Al Ain Municipality held a meeting of it emergency and crisis committee in response to the rainy weather. Complete hysteria! Emergency! Red alert, red alert!!

Oh, and last but not least, we had another case of conflicting headlines in yesterday's paper. On one page, there was mention of 'harsh weather conditions' next to photos of mild flooding from the deluge and citizens walking in the rain.

The very next page, the headline read "Farms in east UAE face water shortage".