United Arab Emirates: clearing ice from houses, problems with water supply; Some residents suffer the consequences of hail – News

A white sheet covered many parts of Al Ain when heavy rain and hailstorm hit the inner city earlier this week. While the rare weather painted the Garden City snow white, residents are still dealing with its aftermath, days after the storm. These range from no electricity or water at home to damaged cars.

Palestinian expatriate Mohamed Salim said the basement parking lot of his building flooded after the storm, damaging his water pumps. “The water pressure in our apartment is still very weak. “We talked to the building manager about it, who said they were working on it.”

The water in the basement was cleared after three days. “Our neighbor’s situation is worse. His electrical room was in the garage and he sustained damage. They have been making do with power generators,” Salim said.

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He described how he and his brother raced against time to retrieve their car from the basement. “We were lucky enough to get the car out, but in less than two minutes, the entire garage was flooded with the rest of the cars still parked inside.”

Indian expat Shada Saleem, who was born and raised in Al Ain, said she had never seen anything like this week’s hailstorm in the 25 years she has lived there.

“It looked like someone was throwing rocks at our window. When we woke up and saw the ice, my husband and I were excited because we love winters and snowfall. On the other hand, we were afraid of the damage it was causing,” said the expatriate.

Shada said her balcony was flooded with ice chunks.

“It looked like a white carpet. Some water also entered the house. We had to leave sheets around the balcony… We opened the drain so the water could come out, but since our area was already flooded, the process was very slow,” he said.

It wasn’t until Wednesday that he was able to clean up the mess.

Another worrying aspect for the couple was their car. “We watched helplessly as the ice hit our car.”

Your car has suffered some dents. They are waiting for a police report to claim damages from their insurance company.

Muhammad Almagboul, a Sudanese expatriate, woke up to the crash of thunder. Thinking it was just rain, he went back to sleep. When he woke up, his entire neighborhood was covered in huge chunks of ice.

“I immediately went to check my car. My back window was totally shattered,” she said.

Fortunately for Muhammad, his insurance will cover the damage.

For Heba Hussain, who moved to Al Ain from Abu Dhabi, the whole experience was disconcerting. “Luckily for us, the storm didn’t cause much damage, other than a few leaks here and there. Our car suffered some damage, but it was just dents.”

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