'Blessed to go through this together': Kim Lim, Jianhao Tan stuck for 8 hours in car due to Dubai floods

The torrential downpour across United Arab Emirates has wreaked havoc on the region, damaging buildings and killing at least one person. 

And unfortunately, some fellow Singaporeans were affected by the storm too, which included reports of hail in several areas of Abu Dhabi. 

Local YouTuber Tan Jianhao took to Instagram on Wednesday (April 18) to share how he and a few others, including wife Debbie Soon and socialite Kim Lim, were stuck in their car for over eight hours. 

In several photos and videos, he showed how heavy the downpour was. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/C52MJfzP79A/[/embed]

The roads were flooded and vehicles were stuck in a jam. 

In an Instagram story shared on Kim's platform, she showed people on the streets wading in ankle-deep waters. 

In fact, the weather was so bad that water had started seeping into their own car. 

"Even the car's floor is slippery!" Kim exclaimed. 

"This is a boat now, guys. It's not even a car anymore," Debbie also said. 

Their vehicle had been en route to the airport where they were supposed to catch a flight, which they ended up missing. 

"Eight-hour car ride for what is usually a 25-minute ride," wrote Kim on Instagram.

A quick-thinking Kim had decided to ask their driver to send them to a hotel instead while she rebooked their flights. 

"Never have I thought I’d be caught in a hailstorm in Dubai," Jianhao wrote in the captions to his post. 

"Not sure when we can return but super blessed to go through this together." 

When they finally got out of the car after the ordeal, Kim pointed out: "We were stuck in the car for eight hours, it's like a flight from Singapore to Dubai." 

Speaking to AsiaOne, Jianhao shared that when the incident happened on April 16, the group were about to fly back to Singapore.

They ended up extending their stay in Dubai for two more days. 

Jianhao revealed that the GPS had actually indicated that their journey would take an hour because of the weather and traffic.

"But we did not expect to be there for eight hours," he said.

And it was such an arduously long wait that six hours in, Jianhao had no choice but to relieve his bladder in some bushes.

So, is there still an ongoing storm in Dubai?

"Weather is back to normal, as if no storm ever happened," Jianhao said. 

In the comments section, several netizens sympatised with the group. 

Some said that this is the "worst rain" Dubai has seen in 75 years. 

One also pointed out that traffic in Dubai is "already crazy" on normal days. 

The commenter then praised Singapore's infrastructure and stated that one would not get stuck in traffic for so long here. 

ALSO READ: Flood-hit Sydney residents urged to higher ground after torrential rains

melissateo@asiaone.com