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It can't rain all the time
Nov. 15th, 2004 09:47 amYesterday... it RAINED in Qatar. Doha received 1.1 millimeters of precipitation. Yes, millimeters.
This was the top headline in today's paper, naturally. "Rain lashes parts of Qatar."
When our friends called us from the souq to tell us it was raining, I ran to the windows to look outside -- but it wasn't raining in western Doha. I spent the rest of the afternoon with the windows open, and while we heard some cool thunder and saw some beautiful dark clouds (clouds are very unusual here), it never did rain in our compound. The winds from the thunderstorm did create a mini-sandstorm, though, and everything is now covered in a layer of sand.
The interesting thing about rain in Qatar is the impact it has. Because annual rainfall is somewhere around one inch, nobody bothered to build storm sewers; thus, any amount of rain floods the streets. Yesterday, according to the newspaper ("Surprise rains flood several city areas"), they had to pump 7000 gallons off of city streets. Emergency services are being set up in the event of... gasp... MORE rain.
My favorite part of the latter news story, though, is the last couple of paragraphs:
This was the top headline in today's paper, naturally. "Rain lashes parts of Qatar."
When our friends called us from the souq to tell us it was raining, I ran to the windows to look outside -- but it wasn't raining in western Doha. I spent the rest of the afternoon with the windows open, and while we heard some cool thunder and saw some beautiful dark clouds (clouds are very unusual here), it never did rain in our compound. The winds from the thunderstorm did create a mini-sandstorm, though, and everything is now covered in a layer of sand.
The interesting thing about rain in Qatar is the impact it has. Because annual rainfall is somewhere around one inch, nobody bothered to build storm sewers; thus, any amount of rain floods the streets. Yesterday, according to the newspaper ("Surprise rains flood several city areas"), they had to pump 7000 gallons off of city streets. Emergency services are being set up in the event of... gasp... MORE rain.
My favorite part of the latter news story, though, is the last couple of paragraphs:
"Several minor road accidents were reported across the country, according to Lt Aed Al Otaibi, of the department of traffic and patrol police. No major accident took place due to the rains, he said.There you have it: flipping a car is NOT considered a "major accident" in Qatar. And you folks wonder why driving here makes me nervous!
"One car turned upside down near the airport roundabout, while a Qatari woman driving a car was slightly injured near the ministry of information roundabout after being involved in a minor accident."
