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Heavy rains lash Liwa for three hours

Heavy rains coupled with strong winds, thunderstorms and lightning lashed southern parts of the country, mainly areas around Liwa desert and its oasis city, for three hours on Monday evening.

by

Nissar Hoath

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Published: Tue 4 Sep 2012, 8:44 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 2:53 PM

According to Liwa residents, it was one of the heaviest rains witnessed in the area since mid-1990s. G.R. Gomazi, an expatriate farmer in the area, said the rain started at around 7pm when all of a sudden thick and dark cloud developed over the area. The rain continued till 10pm. “I had gone to the market to buy some foodstuff for the evening meal when all of a sudden I saw the skies getting dark and within 10 minutes it started pouring. I had to take shelter in a roadside grocery,” he said.

The downpour in the southern part of the country around Liwa, which is part of the Empty Quarter, was also confirmed by the National Centre for Metereology and Seismology (NCMS) in a brief report. The centre had predicted the change in the weather condition in the area in its reports two days ago.

Another resident, Mohammed Murad, also an expatriate farmer, said most of the farms on low-lying grounds of the ‘Great Liwa Sand Dunes’ were flooded. “Our farm is flooded with water from the rain that continued for more than three hours. Even our room and kitchen at the farm are filled with water and now we are waiting for the water level outside to reduce so we can flush out the water from the room and kitchen,” said Murad.

He and other residents, however, said that though the heavy rain created problems for them, it was a blessing from heaven as it brought them relief from the simmering heat which they have faced for more than two months.

nissar@khaleejtimes.com