Mother of all floods

Credit: DohaNews website

Raindrop keep falling on my head!

Residents in Qatar woke up to mass flooding across Doha on 25 November 2015. Qatar saw rain in one night what it typically received over one whole year. Although it was light rain over 4 hours, it was enough to put the country into a flooded gridlock.

Roads all over Doha were flooded and traffic came to a standstill. Schools closed and messaged parents to collect their children from school. There were reports of leakages and flooding in homes, petrol stations, road tunnels, schools, shopping malls, hotels and even the brand new Hamad International Airport.

Regular life came to a standstill. Everyone was affected. People could not go to work, students did not make it in time for examinations, parents were torn between going to work and rushing to pick up their kids, hotels lost their 5-star reputation with water leaking into guest rooms, swanky new condominiums had to put up with water rushing down their elevators in social media and worst of all, news of the brand new US$14 billion airport with leaking roof and wet floors were reported across international newspapers.

The after effect of the flood lingered for a few days. Roads remained muddy. Abandoned cars dotted the city. Some basement car parks remained water-logged.

Credit goes to the civil authorities as Police were out on the road full force to direct traffic, civil contractors with water pumps were out pumping water away and essential services such as hospitals and ambulance services were operating despite being affected by the flood as well.

Questions were immediately asked across social media, newspapers and coffee shops; what if the rain was more persistent? Of if rain occur again immediately before the roads were cleared? What if this happened during the Fifa World Cup in 2022 since the tournament has been shifted to the rainy December period as it is too hot for the Summer season?

Many questions. But at this point, no one has an answer.

Does it rain in Qatar?

Some people believe that it never rain in the Qatar or for the matter, in the Middle East. That's an incorrect assumption.

It does rain. Especially between December to February of the winter months. The rain tend to be short and intense - 10 to 30 minutes at best.

Most people living here are happy for rain. Rain brings joy to everyone's face, washes away the dirt and sand, let flowers bloom for a while and add a snappy smell to the air.

Drivers though, do not really like rain. Qatari roads are not designed with proper drainage system for rain, even light rain, and they tend to flood quickly. Random potholes in the road add to the flooding problem.

In heavy rain, sand on the sidewalks and clogged drainage system draining onto the road quickly result in a quagmire of slush and mud and the roads become extremely slippery. The fast driving speed and unfamiliarity with wet roads of the local drivers often result in accident rates shooting up during raining days.

It does rain in Qatar

Roads flood quickly.
This is a typical road after 15 minutes of light rain.