Sajwani Downplays UAE’s Heavy Flooding but Acknowledges Infrastructure Preparedness at Damac Properties

Hussain Sajwani, the chairman of Damac Properties, one of the largest private real estate developers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), downplayed the severity of recent flooding in the country earlier this month by stating that there were only “pockets of problems.” The UAE experienced unprecedented rainfall on April 16th, with roughly a year’s worth falling within one day. Flash floods resulted from this and submerged cars completely in some areas while hundreds more drivers abandoned their vehicles due to rising water levels. This event also closed schools, businesses and caused flights cancellations whilst damaging both commercial establishments and residential properties alike. Sajwani acknowledged that there was chaos at the airport but argued that other countries would have faced a far worse outcome compared with Dubai’s rapid recovery time. “I think it was overly exaggerated,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Sunday, speaking in Saudi Arabia. He further explained that whilst some damage occurred to one shopping center – of total property worth around three million square feet — any disastrous implications this might have had were resolved the following day. Sajwani claimed that upon arriving from London just a few hours after rainfall ceased and visiting all major properties belonging to his company, there were only pockets of issues with some locations being affected while others remained intact; an observation he felt was overly exaggerated by media coverage. He also compared the UAE’s experience favorably against Miami’s floods – stating that they happened frequently and houses often got destroyed leading to evacuations on a regular basis, as climate change continues altering environmental conditions worldwide. Sajwani further added that he did not believe lessons needed learning since it was an unusual storm; one which had not hit the country for 75 years according to estimates provided by Dubai’s National Centre of Meteorology — a revelation demonstrating its significance when we consider areas near Eastern portions, saw roughly double and four-folds more rainfall than usual in less than twenty-four hours. The cleanup process is still ongoing with one multistory apartment building having cracked and tilted over due to structural damage from the storm while being fully evacuated because it was at risk of collapsing. Many developments initiated compensations by their managers since announcements indicating similar activities commenced during meetings two days before warnings about impending rainfall were issued in London via Zoom conferences with top-level management staff. Sajwani stated that Damac’s properties largely escaped the storm’s effects and suffered almost no incidents; a feat he attributed to their infrastructure being better than some others, coupled with an action plan put together beforehand as soon as warnings about impending rainfall were issued in London via Zoom conferences.