The United Arab Emirates has announced it will provide USD 544 million to repair the homes of families in the country after last week's record rains caused widespread flooding and brought the oil-rich Gulf state to utter chaos.
"We have learned great lessons in dealing with the heavy rains," Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said after a cabinet meeting, adding that ministers had approved "two billion dirhams to deal with the damage to citizens' homes," AFP reports.
The announcement comes more than a week after an unprecedented flood hit the desert country, where it turned streets into rivers and hampered operations at Dubai airport, the world's busiest for international passengers.
"A ministerial committee has been appointed to follow up on this case ... and pay the compensation in cooperation with the other federal and local authorities," said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also ruler of Dubai, which was one of the worst hit of the UAE's seven sheikhdoms.
The rainfall, the heaviest in the UAE since records began 75 years ago, claimed the lives of at least four people, including three Filipino workers and an Emirati national. UAE authorities have not released official figures on the number of casualties.
Cabinet ministers also formed a second committee to record the damage to infrastructure and propose solutions, Sheikh Mohammed said in a post in X.
"The situation was unprecedented in its gravity, but we are a country that learns from every experience," he said. / BGNES
