MME swings into action to drain out rainwater in parts of city

The Joint Committee for Combating Rainwater Emergencies and Risks at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and rain emergency teams from various municipalities intensified efforts yesterday to drain out rainwater that had accumulated in different places around the country. In a statement, the MME said the response teams had removed around 10mn gallons of rainwater by deploying a considerable number of trucks and workers.The emergency teams worked round the clock and cleared all major streets and public places in the country, the MME tweeted.Waterlogging had been reported from some areas as a result of showers that took place until yesterday morning.Qatar Met department data showed that the Ras Laffan monitoring station in the north recorded the highest rainfall until yesterday morning at 15.9mm, followed by Ghuwairiyah at 13.7mm, Ruwais at 11.6mm and Umm Bab at 10.9mm.Other places that received relatively high rainfall were Doha (airport) at 9.8mm, Sheehaniya at 9.3mm, Dukhan at 8.8mm and Hamad International Airport area at 8.1mm.Meanwhile, the Met department said in a tweet yesterday that the chances of rain will weaken today, but improve again from tomorrow. The wet spell, during which scattered rain is expected, will then continue until the weekend. Today’s forecast says poor visibility – 2km or less – is expected in some places (both inshore and offshore) in the early hours of the day due to “hazy to misty/foggy conditions”.Moderate temperature is likely during the day along with scattered clouds, and misty/foggy conditions will prevail again by night.The temperature in Doha will range from 18-24C today, while yesterday it was 18-26C.