#Powerful cyclone strikes Oman Yemen

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Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing - Sat, 26 May 2018 PST

A cyclone more powerful than any previously recorded in southern Oman slammed into the Gulf country and neighboring Yemen on Saturday, deluging a major city with nearly three years’ worth ... Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing - Sat, 26 May 2018 PST

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SALALAH, Oman | Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing

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SALALAH, Oman | Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing

SALALAH, Oman — A cyclone more powerful than any previously recorded in southern Oman slammed into the Gulf country and neighboring Yemen on Saturday, deluging a major city with nearly three years’ worth of rainfall in single day. The storm killed at least five people while more than 30 remain missing, officials said.

Cyclone Mekunu caused flash flooding that tore away whole roadways and submerged others in Salalah, Oman’s third-largest city, stranding drivers. Strong winds knocked over street lights and tore away roofing.

Rushing waters from the rain and storm surges flooded typically dry creek beds. The holiday destination’s now-empty tourist beaches were littered with debris and foam from the churning Arabian Sea.

Three people, including a 12-year-old girl, died in Oman, and another two bodies were recovered from the Yemeni island of Socotra. More than 30 people were still missing in Socotra, including Yemeni, Indian and Sudanese nationals.

Yemeni officials also reported damage in the country’s far east, along the border with Oman. Rageh Bakrit, the governor of al-Mahra province, said on his official Twitter account late Friday that strong winds had blown down houses and taken out communication lines and water services. He said there were no fatalities in the province.

India’s Meteorological Department said the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 170-180 kilometers (105-111 miles) per hour with gusts of up to 200 kph (124 mph). It called the cyclone “extremely severe.”

Portions of Salalah, home to some 200,000 people, lost power as the cyclone made landfall.

Branches and leaves littered the streets. Several underpasses became standing lakes. Some cars were left abandoned on the road. Electrical workers began trying to repair lines in the city while police and soldiers in SUVs patrolled the streets. On the outskirts of the city, near the Salalah International Airport, what once was a dry creek bed had become a raging river.

The airport, closed since Thursday, will reopen early Sunday, Oman’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation said. The Port of Salalah — a key gateway for the country and for Qatar amid a regional diplomatic dispute — remained closed, its cranes secured against the pounding rain and winds.

Omani forecasters said Salalah and the surrounding area would get at least 200 millimeters (7.87 inches) of rain, over twice the city’s annual downfall. It actually received 278.2 mm, nearly three times its annual rainfall.

Authorities remained worried about flash flooding in the area’s valleys and potential mudslides down its nearby cloud-shrouded mountains. In nearby Wadi Darbat, the storm’s rains supercharged its famous waterfall.

Police and others continued their rescue efforts even as the winds and rains calmed. Capt. Tarek al-Shanfari of the Royal Oman Police’s public relations department said there had been at least three fatalities in the storm, including the death of a 12-year-old girl who was hit in the head by a door flung open by the wind.

An Asian laborer died in a flooded valley and an Omani national in a 4×4 died when his vehicle was swept away, al-Shanfari said.

On Socotra, authorities relocated over 230 families to sturdier buildings and other areas, including those more inland and in the island’s mountains, Yemeni security officials said.

Flash floods engulfed Socotra’s streets, cutting electricity and communication lines. Some humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived on the island just hours after the cyclone receded.

Yemeni security officials said rescuers recovered two bodies on Socotra, while more than 30 people remain missing. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The island, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, has been the focus of a dispute between the UAE and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which are ostensibly allied against Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

Socotra has a unique ecosystem and is home to plants, snails and reptiles that can be found nowhere else.

In Oman, Mohammed Omer Baomer warned his neighbors about a torn-away chunk of road just down the street from his home after earlier getting his SUV stuck over it.

“It was a scary feeling, as if it was the end of world,” he said of the cyclone. “You can’t even go outside. You try to watch from the window and you can’t.”

Yet even as Mekunu barreled overhead, the eye of the storm provided a moment’s respite early Saturday morning. At one luxury hotel in Salalah, which already had evacuated its guests, workers sat down early for “suhoor,” a meal Muslims eat before sunrise during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. They laughed and shared plates by flashlight in a darkened ballroom, the cyclone’s wind a dull roar behind their clatter.

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Associated Press writers Fay Abuelgasim in Salalah, Oman, and Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, contributed to this report

By JON GAMBRELL,  By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

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Strongest Cyclone on Record in Yemen Dumps 3 Years of Rain in One Day, Kills 11

Astonishing and unprecedented downpour that killed at least 11 and many more remain missing. #Mekunu #Yemen

Yemen (Sputnik) – After finally dissipating on Sunday, the strongest cyclone in recorded history to strike coastal areas of Yemen and Oman on the Arabian Sea has left 11 dead and over 30 missing, while dropping some three years’ of rain in a single day.

The most powerful cyclone on record, Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Mekunu blasted coastal and inland regions of Middle Eastern states Yemen…

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mekunu: Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 6 dead, 30 missing

mekunu: Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 6 dead, 30 missing

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SALALAH (OMAN): A cyclone more powerful than any previously recorded in southern Oman slammed into the Gulf country and neighboring Yemen on Saturday, deluging a major city with nearly three years’ worth of rainfall in single day. The storm killed at least six people while more than 30 remain missing, officials said.

Cyclone Mekunucaused flash flooding that tore away whole roadways and…

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A cyclone more powerful than any previously recorded in southern Oman slammed into the Gulf country and neighboring Yemen on Saturday, deluging a major city with nearly three years' worth of rainfall in single day. The storm killed at least six people while more than 30 remain missing, officials said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2IPEaym

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Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing

Strong winds knocked over street lights and tore away roofing. Rushing waters from the rain and storm surges flooded typically dry creek beds.

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Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing

Strong winds knocked over street lights and tore away roofing. Rushing waters from the rain and storm surges flooded typically dry creek beds.

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Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing

By JON GAMBRELLAssociated Press SALALAH, Oman (AP) – A cyclone more powerful than any previously recorded in southern Oman slammed into the Gulf country and neighboring Yemen on Saturday, deluging a major city with nearly three years’ worth of rainfall in single day. The storm killed at least five people while more than 30 remain […]

The post Powerful cyclone strikes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead, 30 missing appeared first on What's Up Augusta.

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Cyclone Mekunu Pounds Yemen Island on Its Path to Oman

Yemeni island of Socotra pounded by Cyclone Mekunu, on a path to strike Oman this weekend.

May 24, 2018, at 11:09 a.m

Men walk on a road flooded after heavy rain and strong winds caused damage in Hadibu as Cyclone Mekunu pounded the Yemeni island of Socotra, Thursday, May 24, 2018. At least 17 people were reported missing. The powerful storm remained on path to strike Oman this weekend. (AP Photo/Abdullah Morgan) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Cyclone Mekunu pounded the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea on Thursday morning, lashing it with heavy rain and strong winds as the powerful storm remained on a path to strike Oman this weekend. At least 17 people were reported missing.

With winds now gusting up to 160 kph (100 mph), meteorologists expected the "very severe" cyclone to strike Oman on Saturday near Salalah, the sultanate's third-largest city and home to some 200,000 people near the country's border with Yemen.

"It is very likely to intensify further during next 24 hours," India's Meteorological Department warned in a bulletin Thursday. It said gusts from the storm will likely reach 190 kph (118 mph) by Saturday.

Yemen's pro-government SABA news agency reported that 17 people were missing after two ships capsized in the storm and three vehicles washed away. It said Yemen's government, exiled in Saudi Arabia, had declared Socotra a "disaster" zone after the storm.

Images circulated online from Socotra show soaking wet residents attempting to find shelter from the storm. The photos and video footage, which went viral Thursday, show strong winds with rain, flash flooding and mudslides.

Mohammed al-Arqabi, a resident of the island who works as a local journalist, described the situation as "very bad," saying "the water level has greatly increased, and floods are everywhere ... washing away cars."

"More than 200 families have been displaced from their homes in the suburbs of Hadibu and areas close to the northern coast," he said. "Two Indian cargo ships have gone missing, losing five of their crew members."

Rajeh Bady, a spokesman for the exiled government, said the island was in need of "urgent" aid, according to SABA.

The island, listed by UNESCO as a world natural heritage site, has been the focus of a dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Yemen's internationally recognized government amid that country's war after Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Saudi troops recently deployed on Socotra as a confidence-building measure over complaints by Yemen's government that the UAE deployed troops there without its permission.

Socotra has a unique ecosystem and is home to rare species of plants, land snail and reptile species that can be found nowhere else around the planet. It is known for its flower-and-fruit-bearing dragon blood tree, which resembles an umbrella and gets its name from the dark red sap it secretes. Socotra hosts endangered species of land and sea birds and its waters hold hundreds of distinctive species of reef-building corals and fish.

A cyclone is the same as a hurricane or a typhoon; their names only change because of their location. Hurricanes are spawned east of the international date line. Typhoons develop west of the line. They are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia.

Seasonal rains are nothing unusual for southern Oman this time of year. While the rest of the Arabian Peninsula bakes in areas where temperatures near 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), those in the sleepy port city of Salalah enjoy rainy weather that sees fog and cool air at wrap around its lush mountainsides. Temperatures drop down around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) during its annual monsoon festival.

Powerful cyclones, however, are rare. Over a roughly 100-year period ending in 1996, only 17 recorded cyclones struck Oman. In 2007, Cyclone Gonu tore through the sultanate and later even reached Iran, causing $4 billion in damage in Oman alone and killing over 70 people across the Mideast.

The last hurricane-strength storm to strike within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of Salalah came in May 1959, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's archives. However, that cyclone was categorized as a Category 1 hurricane, meaning it only had winds of up to 95 mph (152 kph). Mekunu, which means "mullet" in Dhivehi, the language spoken in the Maldives, is on track to potentially be as powerful as a Category 3 hurricane.

Ahead of the storm, Omani media reported lines at gas stations in Salalah, the hometown of Oman's longtime ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The Royal Oman Police urged citizens to seek safety and warned that floods were likely in valleys. It also said it planned to deploy more ambulances and police officers to areas likely to be affected by the cyclone.

Also, the Health Ministry said it evacuated critically ill patients at locations of the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, flying them by air north to Muscat, the country's capital. State television aired images of others being evacuated from remote villages in the path of the cyclone.

The port of Salalah, crucial to Qatar amid a boycott by four Arab nations over a diplomatic spat with Doha, said it also had taken precautions and secured cranes ahead of the cyclone.

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SALALAH, Oman | Cyclone Mekunu nears Oman's coast, kills 12-year-old girl

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SALALAH, Oman | Cyclone Mekunu nears Oman's coast, kills 12-year-old girl

SALALAH, Oman (AP) — Cyclone Mekunu neared the Arabian Peninsula on Friday as its outer bands dumped heavy rain and bent palm trees in Oman, a sign of the approaching storm’s power after earlier thrashing the Yemeni island of Socotra.

Already at least 40 people, including Yemenis, Indians and Sudanese, were reported missing on Socotra, where flash floods washed away thousands of animals and cut power lines on the isle in the Arabian Sea. Officials feared some may be dead while authorities in Oman confirmed the first death in the cyclone.

The cyclone is expected to make landfall early Saturday near Salalah, Oman’s third-largest city and home to some 200,000 people close to the sultanate’s border with war-ravaged Yemen.

Conditions quickly deteriorated in Salalah after sunrise Friday, with winds and rain beginning to pick up. Strong waves smashed into empty tourist beaches. Many holidaymakers fled the storm Thursday night before Salalah International Airport closed. The Port of Salalah — a key gateway for the country — also closed, its cranes secured against the pounding rain.

Streets quickly emptied across the city. Standing water covered roads and caused at least one car to hydroplane and flip over.

Later, a municipal worker on a massive loader used its bucket to tear into a road median to drain a flooded street, showing how desperate the situation could become.

Omani forecasters warned Salalah and the surrounding area would get at least 200 millimeters (7.87 inches) of rain, over twice the amount of rain this city typically gets in a year. Authorities remained worried about flash flooding in the area’s valleys and potential mudslides down its nearby cloud-shrouded mountains.

A sizable police presence fanned out across Salalah, the hometown of Oman’s longtime ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Many officers rode in Royal Oman Police SUVs with chicken wire over the windows, likely because their other vehicles weren’t tall enough to maneuver through the flood water.

“Of course, for the citizen there is going to be a sense of fear of the consequences that can happen,” said Brig. Gen. Mohsin bin Ahmed al-Abri, the commander of Dhofar governorate’s police. “We have been through a few similar cases and there were losses in properties and also in human life as well. But one has to take precautions and work on that basis.”

The Royal Oman Police later said on Twitter that a 12-year-old girl died after winds from the cyclone threw her against a wall.

As torrential rains poured down, local authorities opened schools to shelter those whose homes are at risk. About 600 people, mostly laborers, huddled at the West Salalah School, some sleeping on mattresses on the floors of classrooms, where math and English lesson posters hung on the walls.

Shahid Kazmi, a worker from Pakistan’s Kashmir region, told The Associated Press that police moved him and others to the school. He acknowledged being a bit scared of the storm but said: “Inshallah, we are safe here.”

India’s Meteorological Department said the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 170-180 kph (105 to 111 mph), gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph). They described the cyclone as “extremely severe.”

“Salalah is expected to experience maximum wind and maximum rainfall and also the maximum storm surge,” said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra of the department.

On Socotra, authorities relocated over 230 families to sturdier buildings and other areas, including those more inland and in the island’s mountains, Yemeni security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Flash floods engulfed Socotra streets, cutting electricity and communication lines, they said. At least 40 people were missing, they added. Some humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived on the island just hours after the cyclone receded.

The officials said heavy rains pummeled Yemen’s easternmost province of al-Mahra, along the nation’s border with Oman.

Socotra Gov. Ramzy Mahrous said one ship sank and two others ran aground in the storm, initially saying authorities believed 17 people were missing.

“We consider them dead,” the governor said.

Yemen’s self-exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi issued a statement ordering troops under his command on the island to help citizens, deliver supplies and reopen roads.

The island, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, has been the focus of a dispute between the UAE and Yemen’s internationally recognized government amid that country’s war after Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Socotra has a unique ecosystem and is home to rare plants, snails and reptiles that can be found nowhere else on the planet. It is known for its flower-and-fruit bearing dragon blood tree, which resembles an umbrella and gets its name from the dark red sap it secretes.

A cyclone is the same as a hurricane or a typhoon; their names only change because of their location. Hurricanes are spawned east of the international date line. Typhoons develop west of the line and are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia.

Powerful cyclones are rare in Oman. Over a roughly 100-year period ending in 1996, only 17 recorded cyclones struck the sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. In 2007, Cyclone Gonu tore through Oman and later even reached Iran, causing $4 billion in damage in Oman alone and killing over 70 people across the Mideast.

The last hurricane-strength storm to strike within 160 kilometers (100 miles) of Salalah came in May 1959, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s archives.

However, that cyclone was categorized as a Category 1 hurricane, meaning it only had winds of up to 152 kph (95 mph).

Mekunu, which means “mullet” in Dhivehi, the language spoken in the Maldives, is on track to potentially be the same strength as a Category 2 hurricane at landfall. It also comes just days after Cyclone Sagar struck Somalia.

By JON GAMBRELL , By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC(R.A)

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | Cyclone Mekunu pounds Yemen island on its path to Oman

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | Cyclone Mekunu pounds Yemen island on its path to Oman

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Cyclone Mekunu pounded the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea on Thursday morning, lashing it with heavy rain and strong winds as the powerful storm remained on path to strike Oman this weekend. At least 17 people were reported missing.

With winds now gusting up to 160 kph (100 mph), meteorologists expected the “very severe” cyclone to strike Oman on Saturday near Salalah, the sultanate’s third-largest city and home to some 200,000 people near the country’s border with Yemen.

“It is very likely to intensify further during next 24 hours,” India’s Meteorological Department warned in a bulletin Thursday. It said gusts from the storm will likely reach 190 kph (118 mph) by Saturday.

There was no immediate word from Socotra, though Yemen’s pro-government SABA news agency reported that 17 people were missing after two ships capsized in the storm and three vehicles washed away. It said Yemen’s government, exiled in Saudi Arabia, had declared Socotra a “disaster” zone after the storm.

Rajeh Bady, a spokesman for the exiled government, said the island was in need of “urgent” aid, according to SABA.

The island, listed by UNESCO as a world natural heritage site, has been the focus of a dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Yemen’s internationally recognized government amid that country’s war after Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Saudi troops recently deployed on Socotra as a confidence-building measure over complaints by Yemen’s government that the UAE deployed troops there without its permission.

Socotra is known for its flower-and-fruit-bearing dragon blood trees, which resemble umbrellas. The tree gets its name from the dark red sap it secretes.

A cyclone is the same as a hurricane or a typhoon; their names only change because of their location. Hurricanes are spawned east of the international date line. Typhoons develop west of the line. They are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia.

Seasonal rains are nothing unusual for southern Oman this time of year. While the rest of the Arabian Peninsula bakes in areas where temperatures near 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), those in the sleepy port city of Salalah enjoy rainy weather that sees fog and cool air at wrap around its lush mountainsides. Temperatures drop down around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) during its annual monsoon festival.

Powerful cyclones, however, are rare. Over a roughly 100-year period ending in 1996, only 17 recorded cyclones struck Oman. In 2007, Cyclone Gonu tore through the sultanate and later even reached Iran, causing $4 billion in damage in Oman alone and killing over 70 people across the Mideast.

The last hurricane-strength storm to strike within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of Salalah came in May 1959, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s archives. However, that cyclone was categorized as a Category 1 hurricane, meaning it only had winds of up to 95 mph (152 kph). Mekunu, which means “mullet” in Dhivehi, the language spoken in the Maldives, is on track to potentially be as powerful as a Category 3 hurricane.

Ahead of the storm, Omani media reported lines at gas stations in Salalah, the hometown of Oman’s longtime ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The Royal Oman Police urged citizens to seek safety and warned that floods were likely in valleys. It also said it planned to deploy more ambulances and police officers to areas likely to be affected by the cyclone.

Also, the Health Ministry said it evacuated critically ill patients at locations of the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, flying them by air north to Muscat, the country’s capital. State television aired images of others being evacuated from remote villages in the path of the cyclone.

The port of Salalah, crucial to Qatar amid a boycott by four Arab nations over a diplomatic spat with Doha, said it also had taken precautions and secured cranes ahead of the cyclone.

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Associated Press writer Menna Zaki in Cairo contributed to this report

By JON GAMBRELL, By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

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