S'poreans in flood-hit Dubai stuck in car for 8 hours

YouTuber says water level almost at car windows, but they were luckier than others

- lan Cheng

Ian Cheng Correspondent

As the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was lashed by a storm that clogged its highways and brought one of the world's busiest airports to a standstill, some Singaporeans in Dubai found themselves in the thick of the chaos that engulfed the Middle Eastern financial centre.

"We were just really lucky that we managed to get out of it safely.

At one point, the water level was almost up to our windows," said Singaporean YouTuber Jianhao Tan, who was stuck in a car for eight hours on April 16.

Footage posted on TikTok by Mr Tan showed luggage trolleys being blown across a hotel lobby, with people frantically running through the entrance to seek shelter. Vehicles can also be seen attempting to navigate the roads, as well as people walking on road dividers to avoid the water.

The 31-year-old was in Dubai for what was supposed to be a five-day holiday with his wife Debbie Soon, socialite-entrepreneur Kim Lim and social media influencer Wendy Cheng, also known as Xiaxue.

Mr Tan and the rest of the group had been scheduled to return to Singapore on April 16, while Ms Cheng left on April 15, just managing to avoid the rainfall that began that evening.

The record rainfall meant Dubai's major airport was thrown into chaos, and the city's giant, six-lane highways clogged by flooding that led to snaking tailbacks.

Mr Tan and his group wanted to leave their hotel at about 3pm to catch their 9pm flight back to Singapore, and after much difficulty, managed to find one vehicle for the entire group.

"We tried to fit our luggage in the car and ended up squeezing together we did not expect to squeeze for eight hours," he said, with a laugh.

An hour into the journey, the gravity of the situation began to dawn on the group. Their vehicle was barely moving through the flooded streets, and on social media, Mr Tan said he saw videos of a flooded airport.