Qatar has experienced some heavy rain during the morning of November 24. As it continues to rain, streets, houses and schools are flooding. This caused immense traffic in all of Doha leading to the absolute gridlock condition on roads.

Rain is usually a blessing for every desert. In deserts, usually more water evaporates than it rains. The main source of water in deserts is groundwater that can also only exist with rain. After rain you can experience a bloom of the vegetation in deserts that haven’t bloomed in months. Today Qatar’s roads and many buildings are in a bad state, and it isn’t the first time. They have been several incidents in the past which urged Qatar last year, after an underpass on Salwa road was underwater, to take action and create a new sewerage network as the old one is not sufficient and will leave the roads of Qatar overflowing. Residential areas in industrial area are badly damaged by rain in the past, including rain this year, not much has been done yet to help the situation in Industrial area and the drainage system for Qatar’s roads.

As a result of today’s rain, Qatar has undertaken several safety precautions such as the closure of schools, where students were ordered by the Supreme Education Council to be picked up from schools at 11 AM, the closure of some universities such as Virginia Commonwealth University and Georgetown University, and warnings and urges by the Ministry of Interior. Anyone who may seek help or assistance is welcome to call 999, so the Ministry. Hamad Hospital has cancelled their appointments for today to help anyone in need.

Motorcyclist are told to be extra careful on the roads that make it near to impossible to get from point A to point B.

Several building and bridges show clear signs of serious water damage like Passport Bridge by Landmark and even Hamad International Airport, which seems to be underwater as well.

While many on the Internet create memes and funny images to “make the best” of a bad situation and to spread some amusement, they also raise some serious questions. Should Qatar be in such a state of powerlessness caused by a few days of heavy rain?

ILoveQatar wants everyone to be safe and protected, so here are a few tips from he MoI:

• Please keep safe distance between vehicles.
• Reduce speed while raining.
• Don’t risk driving through waterlogging on roads, as you don’t know the depth or other possible obstacles inside.
• Avoid sudden braking. Because it may cause to skid and lose the control.
• Keep concentrate on driving and never engage in other things distracting your driving.
• Car indicators and other signals are means of communicating with other road users. Ensure their workability.
• Windshield wipers play key role to ensure visibility while driving in rain.
• Make sure your tires good enough and are inflated to the right pressure.
• While the visibility is very low do not hesitate to stop your car off the road for your safety and the safety of others.
• It is commonly seen to use hazard lights while driving in the rain. It is wrong as hazard light is to be used for emergency stop due to any hazards for your vehicle.

The Qatar Meteorology Department has forecast more heavy rainfall between 1 PM and 3 PM, and the rain will most likely continue until Thursday.

If you are not on the roads, then it’s probably better to stay home where you are safe. Watch the rain from your windows and have a look at the memes already on the internet. It is important to stay positive and not panic on a day like this!

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