As torrential rains battered the Maldives and floods engulfed the capital Malé City on Friday causing widespread devastation, RaajjeMV has learned that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu was enjoying in Aarah, far from the crisis unfolding in the capital.

Friday’s downpour caused severe damage to several islands across the Maldives.

Friday brought record-breaking rainfall to the capital city, marking one of the heaviest downpours in recent history. According to statistics, 62 millimeters of rain was experienced in the capital within just one hour. Over 24 hours, 140 millimeters of rainfall was experienced. The Maldives Meteorological Service (MMS) noted that flooding occurs in Malé when 30 millimeters of rainfall is experienced within an hour.

Due to the incessant heavy rain, many homes and shops in Malé were flooded, causing significant damage. The biggest concern for Malé residents was the prolonged delay in draining water from the streets.

Some citizens took matters into their own hands after authorities failed to show up in adequate time, digging channels and placing sandbags to drain water. While the Malé City Council and Maldives Police Service (MPS) also worked on placing sandbags to control flooding, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) revealed that they received more than 400 phone calls requesting assistance and sandbags.

The military worked to pump out floodwater from Malé streets. According to Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), they used 16 pumps in six areas to drain water.

Due to flooding, vehicles were unable to move and stopped in the middle of roads. MPS officers had instructed not to bring four-wheeled vehicles and heavy vehicles onto the streets.

While the country was dealing with a major incident and citizens were struggling, some people flooded social media with questions about the absence of any news from the country’s president. According to reports circulating on social media, some people were saying that while Malé was underwater, the president was on vacation in Aarah. RaajjeMV's efforts to confirm this revealed that while many islands in the Maldives were flooded and citizens were in distress, the president was indeed in Aarah on vacation. Many citizens have heavily criticized the president for being in Aarah during the critical situation.

NDMA has stated that temporary shelter and food have been provided to 226 people from 36 households affected by flooding due to Friday's heavy downpour.

MMS has since stated that the weather is expected to improve from Monday. While there's still a chance of rain and storms in the coming days, citizens have been urged to take safety precautions.

As the situation in Malé worsened to unprecedented levels, unlike last year's heavy rains when President Muizzu took to the streets and visited homes with ministers and government officials by his side. This time, however, very few officials have been seen in the aftermath.

It's noteworthy that this wave of heavy rain showers and flooding across much of the Maldives coincided with the New Year holidays.