Kuwait: A Ridiculous Mixture of Hail, Rain, Wind and Dust · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Unusual for this time of the year, Kuwait was just hit by a ‘semi-tornado,’ which included “a ridiculous mixture of hail, rain, wind, dust, gusts” in the words of blogger Kuwaitism. Equipped with cells phones and digital cameras, the Kuwaiti blogopshere is full of stories reporting the unexpected weather which hit the country.
Kuwaitism even puts together this quick video, filmed with his mobile phone, which is available on YouTube:
Kuwaitism's post also features a number of photographs, clearly showing snow on the streets, as well as uprooted trees – one of them on the bonnet of a car. He explains the mayhem as follows:
There were many many more scenes like that which I couldnt take pictures of! I saw light posts on the ground, I saw scaffolding fallen from buildings onto the roads, I saw huge billboards plucked from the ground …
I really hope not many people were hurt, and thank God we have the law against the elections signs on the roads, otherwise it could have been even more disastrous!
Rampurple asks if there is a hurricane in Kuwait and says:
What just happened? One minute I’m surfing the net with my window open enjoying the breezy air and the next minute am running around the room flooded with water!!!
Mark, meanwhile, provides us with a detailed report on what happened. He writes:
Although my windows were all closed dust still managed to come into the house and now EVERYTHING has a layer of sand on it. I couldn’t see ANYTHING outside my window. When I first heard the wind I looked outside and I saw a cloud of sand literally sweep into my block like a huge wave, something I’ve only seen in movies. Within second visibility dropped down to like 10cm, I couldn’t see ANYTHING outside. That extremely powerful wind with dust continued for a couple of minutes before I started hearing a banging sound on my window. I stepped back thinking whatever was hitting my window was going to break it but then I noticed it was rain drops. In a few seconds it started raining really strong and the dust cleared up but then I noticed the rain was so powerful and in such large quantity that water started pouring into my apartment like a waterfall from the window sill. I quickly grabbed a ton of towels and started to do what I can to hold back the water.
He also set up an email account, calling on readers to send him pictures of the damages, which are now being posted here. Mark posts links videos of the storm here.
In keeping with tradition and naming hurricanes after females, Kuwaitism calls the hurricane Sibeecha, while Mark calls it Kuwaitina, following a tip from Susheeh.
Frankom (Ar) meanwhile wasn't in the capital Kuwait, in the chalets area, a popular resort. He predicts:
صحف الغد ستكون عناوينها كالتالي … تسونامي الكويت أو كاترينا كويتي
The headlines of tomorrow's newspapers would read: The Kuwaiti Tsunami or The Kuwaiti Katrina
According to AFP, one man was killed and several injured when the gale-force storm lashed the Emirate.