Global news has been peppered with reports of the storm that has had Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in its devasting clutches.
Annually this lavish metropolis on the south-east coast of the Arabian Gulf gets 97mm of rain despite being an arid part of the world. This storm is said to have produced 256mm of rainfall in the emirate.
The deluge bombarded this haven for the rich, Bentley trucks floating down what was at one stage a main highway that now resembles a canal.
Dubai has been known to use cloud seeding to address water shortages in the city. This involves planes dropping salts and iodine into clouds which increases the likelihood of rain by condensing the vapour in clouds which then becomes snow that melts into rain as it falls. Complex, but an approach that has been around for decades. This was not the reason for these floods.
A low-pressure system simply prevented other weather systems from getting by resulting in an intensified downpour. This storm has ravaged the city and also trapped a South African some of you might be familiar with.
Serge ‘the Blesser’ Cabonge went to Dubai with his family to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. The self-proclaimed and now reformed blesser reached out to Drum briefly to convey the gravity of his circumstances.
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Serge is known for having been a man of leisure who would spend his weekends and holidays fraternizing with slay queens and celebrities.
He detailed his life as a blesser extensively in the media and what a tale it is. Lewd sexual acts and grandiose excess would be the driving motifs for that chapter of his life, but he has done an about-turn and is now more of a family man.
Serge reached out while he and his kin were stranded without a roof over their heads frantically seeking alternate accommodation.
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"We celebrated my daughter's birthday over the weekend. On Tuesday we woke up to flooding in our hotel rooms,” he says, sounding overwhelmed.
“We are safe at the moment and still seeking alternative accommodation.”
“As I am talking to you, I am with a couple from the UK who we were booked in the same hotel, we’re still also waiting for the hotel management to give us guidance.”
He easily spots the proverbial cloud with a silver lining, saying “What is important is that my daughter enjoyed her birthday before this mess.”
Cabonga says the city has been brought to its knees by these the heaviest rains Dubai has seen in 75 years.
“It's all over the city, even the Mall of Dubai is flooded,” he elaborates with the demeanour of a person strongly contemplating the safety and well-being of himself and his family.
“I will probably be back on Saturday, but I am also told the airport is flooded.”
