(With reporting by Ankita Menon)
A reported 14 millimeters of rain that fell on Doha yesterday was enough to flood some local roads and temporarily shut down at least one shopping center.
On Twitter, Ezdan Mall said “heavy water leakage” had forced it to close its doors on Saturday afternoon:
@burnsbabe64 @dohanews We had some heavy water leakage yesterday & decided to close down & fix for the safety and comfort of our visitors.
— Ezdan Mall (@EzdanMall) January 12, 2014
A followup tweet confirmed the shopping center reopened this afternoon:
@burnsbabe64 @dohanews #EzdanMall is now open.
— Ezdan Mall (@EzdanMall) January 12, 2014
Al Asmakh Mall (Centerpoint) also experienced flooding, but an official who asked that his name not be used said it was contained to a section of the basement and that water did not enter any shops.
He said the amount of rain overwhelmed the parking lot sewers and forced water up through the drains inside the building. Five or six water tanker trucks were brought in to pump water out of the mall, which was dried out by approximately 9:30pm, the official added.
The rain apparently did not affect Villaggio Mall – where flooding brought on by rain in November caused several stores to temporarily shut down, and a spokesperson at Landmark said that shopping center had been unaffected.
The rain did, however, wash out a women’s cricket match between Ireland and South Africa at the West End Park Stadium.
By the numbers
The Qatar Meteorology Department published a map showing average rainfall across the country on Saturday. Precipitation was lightest in the northwest, where 8.6 millimeters of rain fell, and highest in the southwest with 22 millimeters.
Doha experienced 14.6 millimeters – roughly the amount of rain the city receives on average in the entire month of January – which was enough to overwhelm the drainage systems on several local roads.
Soggy #Doha pic.twitter.com/SseEbVd1Zn
— Steff Gaulter (@WeatherSteff) January 11, 2014
Mild flooding on inner streets was reported by residents in Al Sadd, Mansoura, Old Al Ghanim and Ain Khaled, among others.
@dohanews Flood in Gold Souq Roads #Doha pic.twitter.com/nwvmujwIdh
— ™® (@Rishard2u) January 11, 2014
http://instagram.com/p/jBaWqWLoCP/
The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (Baladiya) has said it is working to clean up some of the flooding, and published several photos on its Facebook page and Twitter account showing tanker trucks pumping water from affected areas.
How were you affected by yesterday’s rain? Thoughts?
