Dubai property boss says floods were overexaggerated: 'Things like that happen in Miami regularly'

Hussain Sajwani, the chairman of Damac Properties, one of the United Arab Emirate's largest private real estate developers, sought to downplay the severity of flooding in the country earlier this month, saying there were only "pockets of problems."

On April 16, the normally dry desert country in the Gulf was pummeled with roughly a year's worth of rain in less than a day, more than it has ever seen in a single storm since records for the UAE began in 1949. 

Flash floods that formed led to water engulfing cars, in some areas fully submerging them, leading hundreds of drivers to abandon their vehicles on roads to escape the rising water levels. The deluge also closed schools and businesses, grounded hundreds of flights, and destroyed cars, businesses and other property. It threw daily life into chaos as many residents lost power and running water or were trapped either inside their homes or in airports, or wherever they happened to be when the storm hit.

Damac's Sajwani conceded there was chaos at the airport, but said the UAE had recovered much faster than other nations would have.

"I think the subject was overexaggerated, honestly," he told CNBC's Dan Murphy on Sunday, speaking at the World Economic Forum's "Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development" in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"Fine, we get some, in one of the malls, some damage. But if the mall is 3 million square feet ... and if a 100 meter leakage or whatever happens — it's not the end of the world and it was fixed the next day."

He explained that he arrived in Dubai from London just a few hours after the rains had stopped, and visited all the major properties that belong to his company.

"There were pockets of problems, I'm not saying no, but