LEAST 18 PEOPLE IN NEIGHBORING -- JOSH LETTERMAN HAS THE STORY. >> Reporter: THE SCENES IN DUBAI TONIGHT LOOK APOCALYPTIC. ROADS TURN INTO RIVERS , TREES BARELY STILL STANDING AS WIND AND A BREEZE ARE SENT FLYING. THE TARMAC IS FLOODED AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE SECOND BUSIEST IN THE WORLD. IMAGINE BEING A PASSENGER ON THIS PLANE, BATTLING RISING WATER, SEEING THIS OUT YOUR WINDOW. FOR HOURS, FLIGHTS WERE HALTED AS STRANDED PASSENGERS PILED UP. TONIGHT, DUBAI AIRPORT TELLING PASSENGERS DON'T SHOW UP UNLESS YOU CONFIRM YOUR FLIGHT STILL LEAVING. >> I TELL THEM, JUST LIKE ME WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR 10 HOURS, 15 HOURS. >> IN 24 HOURS, DUBAI -- >> Reporter: SHATTERING RECORDS IN A DESERT METROPOLIS KNOWN FOR BEING HOT AND DRY. SINCE THE UAE STARTED KEEPING TRACK OF RAINFALL IN 1949, IT'S NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS. >> SO THIS IS NOT A TIME LAPSE. I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS MUCH LIGHTNING IN MY LIFE BEFORE. THIS IS CRAZY. >> Reporter: THE EXTREME RAINFALL DISRUPTING LIFE ACROSS THE REGION. PRIVATE SCHOOLS CLOSED AND GOVERNMENT WORKERS SENT HOME, WITH MANY ROADS IMPASSABLE. A CAT CLINGING TO A CAR AND WATER AS HIGH AS THE HEADLIGHTS, SAVED BY A RESCUER IN A VOTE. THIS HISTORIC RAIN HAS TURNED DEADLY. AT LEAST ONE MAN KILLED IN DUBAI WHEN HIS CAR WAS SLEPT AWAY -- SWEPT AWAY. AT LEAST 18 WERE KILLED IN FLASH FLOODING. DOZEN MORE, RESCUED BY HELICOPTER. IN NEARBY PAKISTAN, THE DEATH TOLL HAS PASSED 60, THEY SAY. IN THE UAE, THE UNPRECEDENTED RATE IS -- WHICH THE UAE HAS BEEN DOING FOR YEARS. >> ATTEMPTS TO GET MORE WATER OR CLOUDS. THIS IS LARGELY BY MAKING THE DROPS LARGER AND MORE ABLE TO SURVIVE. >> THIS USES AIRPLANES TO DIVERSE -- SILVER IODINE INSIDE CLOUDS TO GIVE MOISTURE SOMETHING TO CLING TO. BADLY NEEDED IN THE GOAL, BUT NOT WHEN IT'S THIS FAST. THE UAE'S NATIONAL CENTER OF METEOROLOGY SAYS NO CLOUD SEEDING TOOK PLACE DURING THIS RAINFALL. >> Reporter: DOESN'T -- BUT WHETHER EXPERTS SAY IT WAS UNLIKELY A FACTOR, GIVEN HOW THE WHOLE REGION WAS INUNDATED WITH RAIN. >> THE WEATHER SYSTEM THAT USE THE RAIN IN DUBAI IS OVER -- REALLY VERY MANY ORGANIZED IN THE STORM. YOU MIGHT DO IT IN A LOCAL WAY. IN THIS REGIONAL THAT WE'VE SEEN . >> Reporter: TONIGHT, DUBAI IS CLEANING UP FROM THE CHAOS, AND BRACING FOR MORE EXTREME WEATHER TO COME. >> ACROSS THE GLOBE, EXTREME
