Weather forecasts, hundreds of surveillance cameras and heat maps are among the technologies that Dubai authorities will use to manage water accumulation and traffic during heavy rains.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a Joint Flood Management Room to monitor response plans, distribute teams, and allocate resources to address water accumulation during heavy rain. This has already resulted in faster decision-making on deploying teams and resources, leading to a 36% response and recovery time improvement.

Heavy rains caused major roads in the emirate to flood in November last year, causing delays of up to six hours, especially in low-lying areas. Water-logged streets and rainwater pools had also caused damage to several vehicles. Historically, rains in the country have always brought significant traffic challenges, especially to those who drive between emirates.

Weather forecast

RTA is working with the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) to improve how information on weather forecasts is collected. This will step up the preparedness of relevant teams to cope with water accumulations during heavy rain and promptly broadcast messages to the public.

The authority has also formed a team with representatives from various entities to prepare a comprehensive response plan to deal with weather fluctuations. It has employed several technologies to enhance response effectiveness and improve recovery time for water accumulations from heavy rain on major roads across Dubai. These include:

Copyright © 2022 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).