RSOE EDIS: Qatar - Extreme Weather - 2010.02.06

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

2010-02-06 05:44:04 - Extreme Weather - Qatar EDIS CODE: ST-20100206-24818-QAT Date & Time: 2010-02-06 05:44:04 [UTC] Area: Qatar, Capital City, , Doha Damage level: Heavy (Level 3) Not confirmed information! Description: Some parts of the country in the north witnessed a hailstorm early yesterday morning, while the weather bureau has forecast strong winds and high seas offshore for today. The minimum temperature is likely to be 14 degrees Celsius while the maximum will be 21 degrees Celsius. There will be some dust in the air with chances of scattered rain at places during the day today, said the bureau. According to it, yesterday's hailstorm in the north coincided with the rains that fell in and outside Doha accompanied by a lot of thunder at around 2am (yesterday). Some southern regions witnessed heavy rains around the same time, meteorologists said, adding that the rainfall figures would be available only today. "We can't give you the figures today. They will be ready tomorrow," a forecaster said yesterday. As for the dust storm that enveloped the country on Thursday, the bureau said it was caused by dry sands and strong northwesterly winds. The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, meanwhile, said it was expecting the sand storm on Thursday and rains early yesterday morning, so all preparations to tackle any emergencies arising from the weather were made in advance. Safar Mubarak Al Shafi, director of public cleaning at the ministry, said a task force had been set up to handle emergencies and it was kept in readiness in shifts round-the-clock. "We held an emergency meeting on Thursday and decided to focus on busy commercial areas, including shopping centres, external roads and the towers under construction to clear sand that was being deposited on the roads due to the dust storm. "But strong winds prevented the sand from getting accumulated on the roads and this in turn prevented traffic accidents," Al Shafi said. Meanwhile, some 121 road accidents were reported during the dust storm, most of them in the Old Airport area. No serious injuries were reported, though, Two persons suffered minor injuries. Posted:2010-02-06 05:44:04 [UTC] Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu