Shaheen storm: Abu Dhabi warns residents of heavy rains, winds, low visibility

Abu Dhabi has issued a weather alert on the tropical storm Shaheen situation, warning that it will impact the emirate from Sunday to Tuesday, Abu Dhabi Media Office reported.

“Tropical situation Shaheen will affect weather conditions in the emirate, particularly Al Ain, from Sunday, 3 October until Tuesday, 5 October, including cumulus rain clouds, high-speed winds, low visibility, rough and turbulent seas and flash flooding,” the statement posted to Twitter on Sunday cautioned.

Authorities advised people to drive “with extra care” and reduce their speed when the visibility is low, to avoid “sea activities,” avoid valleys and “areas of torrential rain” and to follow the weather forecast, stressing that they only follow “authorities’ instructions” and “obtain information from official sources.”

The country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) also announced on Sunday that the tropical storm is expected to affect some other regions in the UAE, namely the northeast and south of the country, extending over some central internal regions.

“From today, some regions in UAE will be affected by the topical situation [Shaheen], especially in the northeastern regions, Al-Ain region, and the southern regions, extending over some central internal regions, where convective clouds multiply, accompanied by rainfall of varying intensity,” the authorities said in a tweet on Sunday.

The announcement also mentioned that the state of the Oman Sea was “very turbulent” leading to the “inundation of sea water over the eastern coast [of Oman], especially the low-lying areas, and the Arabian Gulf is sometimes turbulent in the north.”