Prominent officials and experts participating in a symposium hosted by the Deputy Chief of Police and Public Security in Dubai, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, under the title “Managing Crises and Natural Disasters,” revealed studies confirming the possibility of increasing the rate of rainfall in the country to about 40% during the next 10 years, and the participants recommended At the symposium, a committee was formed to deal with heavy rains and torrential rains.
In detail, the Deputy Chief of Police and Public Security in Dubai, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, said, “The climate changes we face today are among the greatest challenges that affect individuals, institutions, and countries alike. Heavy rains and torrential rains are not just natural phenomena, but rather are a test of our ability to plan.” Effective and urgent response, to reduce the effects of crises and protect lives and property.”
He added, “The symposium focuses mainly on improving mechanisms for managing crises and natural disasters, developing infrastructure, and enhancing community awareness to prevent the dangers of torrential rains and torrential floods, as it is not possible to talk about solutions without addressing the necessity of proactive planning and coordinating efforts among the various concerned parties. And benefit from the experiences of other countries in this field.”
He pointed out that the relevant authorities in the country, represented by the National Center of Meteorology and the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, issued warnings well before the country was exposed to the thunderstorm, but this did not prevent it from facing difficult challenges, stressing the need to deal seriously with any weather-related warning until The infrastructure is not damaged or traffic is paralyzed, and people suffer from problems, such as sinking cars and other manifestations that accompany the rainfall, because the world looks to the Emirates as a sophisticated and advanced model. For countries.
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan stressed the need for guarantees for the efficient operation of rescue and emergency mechanisms, protecting homes from water leaking into basements, providing mechanisms to convert roads to alternatives that were not damaged by rain, and forming a team of relevant authorities to manage the crisis in all its stages.
In turn, the Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, said, “Applying the rule of flexibility in dealing with this type of emergency requires three main stages: prediction, dealing, and recovery,” indicating that the first stage related to prediction has been provided, and sufficient warnings have been issued. From the Dubai Police Resilience Center, it included 14 vital arteries in the emirate, so that they would be covered and operate efficiently, but this was not achieved in the next two stages in the best way, which disrupted the movement of rescue teams and prevented them from working efficiently. Ordinary.
He added, “The relevant authorities made every effort to deal with the low rumblings and the exceptional rainfall that accompanied them, but one of the lessons learned remains the activation of awareness and warning messages, similar to what happens in countries like America during hurricanes and floods.”
He pointed out that he personally attended the preparations of the US state of Florida for a violent hurricane, and how all the agencies worked to prepare people to deal with the situation, from the beginning of securing their needs and the shelters to which they must resort, pointing out that weather changes have become a reality in the entire world, and it is necessary to deal with them in a manner Proactive, especially in light of the availability of information in advance, as Dubai Police identified 46 locations in the emirate predicted to be affected by rain accumulations, in addition to vital arteries for movement.
An expected increase in rainfall
In turn, the Director of the National Operations Center at the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, Dr. Saif Juma Al Dhaheri, said, “Studies confirm that there is an expected increase in the rainfall index in the country during the next 10 years by about 40%, and this requires us to be adequately prepared to deal with any undesirable circumstances.” “It is normal,” pointing out that “there is a complete guarantee from the authority that warnings will be issued well in advance of the event,” and he added: “The challenges that the state faced during the roaring depression proved that there are concerns in this regard.” It is necessary to work on it, because the rain will fall in any case.”
He pointed out that the second matter relates to community awareness, because there are challenges that were felt in the response of a large percentage of its members, especially those who do not prefer to leave their homes, despite warnings of the possibility of damage to them, noting that the authority’s messages reach everyone, and it took immediate measures that included disrupting study and work, and postponing Events, but the biggest challenge being worked on remains the readiness of the infrastructure for these changes.
He stated that the authority had developed a powerful early warning system that was used during the Corona pandemic, and it later faced challenges of which 99% were resolved.
He pointed out that emergencies are not limited to rain only, but extend to other manifestations, such as fog, and offering solutions to avoid complex accidents that may result from it, and educating people about best practices.
Exceptional atmosphere
For his part, the Director of the Meteorology Department at the National Center of Meteorology, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abri, said, “There has been a recurrence of exceptional weather conditions since 1957 at intervals. The country witnessed one in 1983, then 2003, and finally this year, but what is striking is that the rate of rainfall is increasing.” With every new style.
Al-Abri revealed climatic changes that are expected to affect the country in light of global climate change, including an increase in average minimum and maximum temperatures in the future, accompanied by thunderstorms and hurricanes, which means an increase in the rate of extremely heavy rainfall and hail.
He said, “The climate changes expected under the low emissions scenario by the end of the century tend to lead to a gradual increase of 20% or more in rainfall, accompanied by an increase in its intensity, a gradual increase in the highest rainfall in one day, and an increase in the number of days.”
90% accuracy of climate forecasts
The Director of the Meteorology Department at the National Center of Meteorology, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abri, said that “the accuracy rate of climate forecasts reaches 90%,” pointing out that the percentage varies according to the situation, and decreases only in local formations. He added that “there is a problem in reading the weather forecast accurately.” Correct, for example, when rain is announced in the eastern region, people only read the word rain, and when that does not happen, they think that the forecast was not accurate, and this affects their response later, but if “If they look closely at what is announced, they will realize that the forecasts cover specific areas.”
Readiness of arteries and vital sites in Dubai
The Director of Corporate Risk and Business Continuity Management at Dubai Municipality, Mohammed Al Dhanhani, said, “The municipality began directly implementing short-term and long-term projects to avoid the problems that accompanied low roar,” and pointed out that there are solutions to ensure that this does not happen again, including: increasing The capacity to absorb rain and drain it immediately in partnership with Dubai Police, the Roads and Transport Authority and the relevant authorities in the emirate.
An innovation that protects rescue vehicles from rainwater
The Director of the General Department of Civil Defense in Dubai, Lieutenant General Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, revealed that solutions had been devised for a technical problem faced by civil defense vehicles during the “low roar” experiment, which was their failure due to water reaching the filters. He added that “the technical team in the department was able to change the vehicle’s specifications, He moved the location of the electronic panel from the bottom of the mechanism to the top, and provided it with external parts to prevent it from being damaged by water,” pointing out that he added it to his personal vehicle, and was able to help about 25 families in the Emirate of Fujairah.
He adopted a proposal to use plastic barriers, which could be transformed into a large basin in which the water accumulated in the streets would be collected. They could also be used to prevent water from reaching the basements.
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan:
. The climate changes we face today are among the biggest challenges that affect individuals, institutions, and countries alike.
Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri:
. Applying the rule of resilience in dealing with this type of emergency requires three stages: forecasting, dealing, and recovering.