Thundershowers hit the country yesterday leaving roads water logged and low lying areas inundated. Several areas in and around Doha were waterlogged due to light to moderate rains that started from the wee hours.
Several parts of the city, especially some of the inner roads, were flooded. Areas in Najma, Muntazah, Al Hilal, Old Airport, Ayn Khalid, Al Saad, Aspire and Ramada were seen waterlogged in the morning.
It started raining from early hours of yesterday and went on intermittently throughout the day. Under the overcast sky, the mercury dipped to a low 13 degrees Celsius.
The municipalities pressed the water pumps into action. Many tankers were seen busy pumping out waters from the flooded roads in the morning.
Qatar’s major thoroughfares turned wet and slippery forcing the motorists to reduce their speeds. Motorists were compelled to increased their braking distance on wet roads and left plenty of space behind the vehicle in front.
The incessant rains brought embarrassing moments for some of the shops in a high-end mall. The normal functioning of these shops were affected for hours as rain water dripped in through the roof. The parking spaces of some of the shopping malls were also seen waterlogged. Doha received 5mm rain yesterday, the daily forecaster told The Peninsula.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning has a database of areas which get waterlogged due to incessant rains. It made their job easy yesterday. Since all sorts of diggings are going on in many areas, pedestrians had to keep a watchful eye out on puddles. Motorists had also a tough time in negotiating with many potholes covered by water.
Many people enjoyed the weather in between the small break of the intermittent rains. Children enjoyed playing in the drizzle. The Department of Meteorology forecast moderate temperature today. But it would be partly cloudy and relatively cold by night. It also warned fresh to strong winds which will bring the minimum temperature to 12 degrees Celsius. The north-westerly wind will blow at a speed of 6-1 knots inshore and 12-20 knots offshore reaching 25 knots at places today.
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2009&file=Local_News200901244310.xml
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