Heavy rain and floods create a lot of inconvenience for residents and visitors in Dubai. Hence, to combat such issues, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced a 'Joint Flood Management Room’. The service launched at Enterprise Command and Control Centre (EC3) is one of the largest and most refined control centres to address water accumulation during heavy rain and monitor and manage traffic and various transport modes.
The centre has a central control room with a 53-square-meter giant screen connected to 34 specialised machines enabling real-time integration. Moreover, the EC3 can process feeds from more than 7,000 surveillance cameras and use Artificial Intelligence in managing incidents and crises. It also uses mobile phone data for planning, handling mobility and crowd control.
Launched in collaboration with Dubai Police General Headquarters, Dubai Municipality, Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment, and representatives from main development areas, the centre will use
latest technologies to monitor response plans and allocate on-site teams and resources allocation to handle the water accumulation during heavy rain affecting the roads and traffic across Dubai.
Besides this, in collaboration with the National Centre of Meteorology, RTA also aims to work on the collection of information on weather forecasts and rain enhancement in Dubai proactively and accurately. It will step up the preparedness of the RTA and suitable teams to manage water accumulations during heavy rain and circulate informative and alert messages to the public, particularly road users.
Lastly, RTA is inclined to deliver information and warning messages through its digital channels over two phases: Proactive Messages based on data from the National Centre of Meteorology, highlighting the need for caution and safe driving for road users via social media for their safety.
The second phase relates to the rainy period, using warning messages to the public via social media about the impact of weather conditions on the road network and transportation means. Immediate warnings for drivers are also displayed via dynamic message signs on major roads in Dubai.