Flash floods strike village homes in Fujairah

Eleven houses in a small village in Fujairah were damaged by flash floods yesterday after torrential downpours ruptured a gully embankment. There were no reports of injuries in the sparsely populated Sharam area of the emirate, and authorities denied rumours that a broken dam had caused the flooding. "The problem was with a channel that took water from a mountain wadi into the sea; it was not a dam that broke," said Saif al Afham, the general manager of Fujairah Municipality.

According to the state news agency WAM, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the UAE Red Crescent Authority, immediately ordered emergency relief to those affected by the surprise downpours, which began yesterday morning. "The RCA is preparing to attend to the people in Fujairah and to provide all forms of support, in coordination with the Fujairah Ruler's Court and Civil Defence," said Suhail Rashid al Qadi, director of the RCA's branch in Fujairah, according to WAM.

Mr al Afham said both federal and local authorities were quick to respond: "We cut the power to the affected homes shortly after the incident to avoid the risk of electrocutions, but we had it restored again by 4pm. hnaylor@thenational.ae