Maeyonnaise

UAE hit by tremors after Iran earthquake

Dubai: Severe tremors were felt in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and other parts of the emirates at around 3.08pm local time forcing people to flee from homes and office.

I thought I was merely feeling dizzy. People in our office who were seated at the corner offices said that they did see the building swaying. I was seated near the door and quite far from the windows. It was only when James told us to evacuate that we actually grabbed our bags and stood up. It was really silly because we were not sure whether it was true or people were just saying it for kicks. We waited by the elevator but it was jampacked. Since it was only us who were there, we even just said that we were just going down to the supermarket. Karen’s main concern was to get me (the preggy one) outta here. When finally the building set off the Evacuation Alarm, it was only then that we decided to just take the stairs 27 floors down! 19….. 18…. 17… “16 floors plus 5 podiums to go….” By the time we reached the 10^th floor my legs were shaking but I just kept moving on. I diverted my attention to joking around with those accompanying me. Podium 1… hurrah! ONE LAST flight of stairs!!! When we got to the ground floor the security was directing everyone towards the Amphitheatre across the road. It was quite full of people from our building already. Thank God the weather was lovely. I took a seat on the grass and re-charged myself. I called hubby… I was almost in tears because my legs were trembling from taking the stairs but I just smiled and said to baby… “this is an exciting new experience…” I actually said this first while we were taking the stress. My baby must’ve shared this sentiment. She didn’t get stressed or made it more difficult for me.

I was seating on the grass for maybe 5 – 10 minutes when I felt something bit my ankle. It stang and itched. I stood up and asked Karen to use my cologne to sort of clear it with the alcohol in it. I had to stand up for the rest of our stay there. People were already going back to the building but we stayed for a while longer. We knew that there would be a long queue to the lifts (elevators). We enjoyed being outdoors a bit more. I was observing our surroundings and saw the Media around with their videocameras and stil cameras. Some were even interviewing the evacuees as you may call us that time. Hehehe.

When almost everyone have crossed the road back to the building, we headed back as well and took a bee-line straight to the supermarket to refresh ourselves with some fruit juices. Shucks! I’m getting a mild leg cramp now… Anyway, afterwards thanks to Tory, I was able to sit by the Lobby while waiting for the elevators. We had to squeeze into one with 2 silly boys who giggling their brains out. I got annoyed with them because they kept moving and hitting me. I actually elbowed the one next to me to create a barrier between him and my belly. Great thing it was a short ride and next thing I knew I shifted further in the elevator when some got off in the floor before us…. Then we were back to the office… Sigh. How great it would’ve been to just go straight home… but then with the dreadful “Ramadan timings” traffic outside, I’d rather sit in the office and leave when the roads are better.

That’s a first evacuation experience from a tall tower.