This week, unprecedented floods struck the desert country, claiming at least one life and bringing Dubai city to a standstill. While Dubai International Airport, a crucial travel hub, has resumed operations, it remains only partially operational.

On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates faced challenges in returning to regular operations following an unprecedented flood that submerged its futuristic city of Dubai, causing road closures, disrupting highways, and rendering its airport inoperable.

Dubai International Airport, known as the world's busiest for international travel, began partially resuming flights on Thursday, marking the first time since the significant storm battered the city and other areas of the UAE on Tuesday.

Despite efforts, several major roads and highways in Dubai remained closed due to the flooding, including sections of the route linking Dubai to the capital, Abu Dhabi.

The exceptional storm led to the cancellation of around 1,244 flights and the rerouting of 41 others between Tuesday and Wednesday. Flight crews and pilots encountered difficulties reaching the airport due to flooded runways.

Majed Al Joker, Dubai Airports Chief Operating Officer, expressed confidence, anticipating Dubai International Airport to reach 60% to 70% capacity by Thursday's end, with full operational capability expected within the subsequent 24 hours.

Numerous passengers found themselves stranded at the airport, compelled to spend the night due to flight cancellations and flooded roads outside. By Thursday, the airport advised passengers to proceed only if their flights were confirmed.

Emirates, the UAE's national carrier, cautioned that the airport "remains congested" on Thursday following the partial resumption of flights.

"There may still be delays to arriving and departing flights," stated an Emirates spokesperson. "Our teams are diligently working to restore our scheduled operations promptly."

On Thursday, nearly 200 departures were recorded as delayed or canceled on Dubai airport's website.

Despite water still flooding many major roads and highways, Thursday saw a gradual return to normalcy.

People began checking abandoned cars to see if they could still run.

Tanker trucks with vacuums headed to areas outside Dubai's downtown core. Schools remained closed until the following week.

In the major financial hub, residents were trapped in traffic, with reports of leaks in homes and offices. Shopping malls, a hallmark of Dubai, were inundated, with water pouring from roofs and vehicles submerged.

"Nothing like it before. It felt like an alien invasion," described Jonathan Richards, a British resident of Dubai, to Reuters. "I woke up to people in kayaks with their pets, suitcases, all outside my house."

"Crises unveil a nation's and society's resilience," penned Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on X. "The recent natural climate crisis demonstrated the immense care, awareness, unity, and affection for every part of the country from its citizens and residents alike."

The storm saw a year's rainfall in a day, leaving at least one dead. The state-news agency WAM called it "a historic weather event" that surpassed "anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949."

Rainfall is rare in the UAE and the greater Arabian Peninsula region, where the climate is hot and dry.

Some questioned whether the UAE's frequent cloud seeding process, which is aimed at artificially prompting rainfall, could have caused the unprecedented rains. However, climate experts said global warming was the likely culprit.

Climate change has recently caused extreme weather events worldwide, with researchers forecasting that it will cause heightened temperatures, increased humidity and a greater risk of flooding in parts of the desert Gulf region.

Abu Dhabi's state-linked newspaper The National, in an editorial on Thursday, described the heavy rains as a warning to countries in the wider Persian Gulf region, where the infrastructure was not built to accommodate heavy rainfall, to "climate-proof their futures."

"The scale of this task is more daunting [than] it appears even at first glance, because such changes involve changing the urban environment of a region that for as long as it has been inhabited, has experienced little but heat and sand," the newspaper said.

Dubai hosted last year the United Nations climate summit COP28.