Dubai floods – do those two words even belong together? It’s been a big couple of days, travelling from Melbourne to Muscat via Dubai.

I had 36 hours in Dubai – most of that spent at the airport – as the emirate was smashed by tumultuous rain and ensuing floods, which I saw first hand when I left the airport on a long layover.

I thought I would be the only one checking into my hotel barefoot, but most of the city is running around with their shoes off, as the water is so deep on the streets.

Dubai residents were told to stay at home, and we were not permitted to leave the airport, as the roads have been destroyed, so there was no way to get anywhere, should we choose to leave.

After 18 hours waiting for flights that were constantly cancelled, I slapped on the red lip for a live TV cross with  Joe O’Brien of ACB TV News channel  @abcnews_au while sitting on the floor of the business class lounge at @flydubai in Terminal 2.

And sending huge thanks to Hind and the rest of the team at the lounge for letting me in for a quiet place to talk to Joe, and for maintaining their calm even when passengers turned abusive.

Here’s another report for the Sydney Morning Herald, with all my footage of the wild ride from my hotel, Al Seef, back to the airport.