Stormy Weather

The view from my apartment five minutes ago (8 a.m.). The sky is almost black, the thunder and lightning and extremely heavy rain have just started. Thankfully I don't have to drive anywhere today. The rain we had a couple of days ago resulted in an incredible 500 accidents in Dubai alone!

Update: the storm lasted 10-15 minutes, during which time our balcony was under two inches of water and threatening to overflow the threshold of the door. The drain on our balcony has never worked, and it was only some frantic bailing by BetterArf and a flowerpot that saved the day.

Some shopkeepers at Ibn Battuta Mall were less fortunate. The whole area around Geant (but not Geant itself) was awash with water. When we went down at 11am there were some very glum-looking shopkeepers surrounded by wet-look stock. And some of the roads around the mall are under about five inches of water.