Man killed by lightning and two drown in wadi as storm sweeps Oman

Heavy rain in Oman has killed three people and left 120 homeless, civil defence said yesterday.

Flash floods filled wadis and swept cars off roads. One man died after being struck by lightning in the northern town of Saham while two others drowned when their vehicles plunged into a flooded wadi in the town of Fariq, eastern Oman.

The rain, which started on Saturday, is forecast to continue for the rest of this week. Oman received an average of 12 millimetres of rain over 48 hours, the weather bureau said yesterday.

Houses were flooded in areas near the mountains and wadis in different towns of the country. In the capital Muscat, heavy rain caused roofs to collapse at three camps for expatriate building workers.

At one of the camps, in Rumais, witnesses reported hearing workers screaming in the early hours of yesterday morning.

“They were running everywhere and shouting,” said Salim Zaher, who lives near by. “Some tried to save their belongings that were floating in the wadi. I saw one of them pulling his friend out of the water.

“When the sun rose there were cooking pans, clothes, food and pieces furniture floating on the water. It is incredible nobody died there.”

Raju Renkat, an Indian building supervisor, said he was struggling to find alternative accommodation for his workers after flooding at their camp in Maabela, in northern Muscat.

“Where will they sleep tonight?” Mr Renkat asked. “There are more than 40 of them in this labour camp.

“Their beds are floating in the wadi and their food as well. They are homeless and I have problem finding them a place to sleep.”

In the eastern town of Sur, the wall of a house collapsed but no one was hurt. Omar Juma, who lives next door, said he was woken by the sound of the collapse.

“I thought it was thunder and I went back to sleep,” Mr Juma said. “Soon after I heard my front doorbell ring. It was my neighbour who said his living-room wall had cracked and fallen. The house is unsafe and the family is in my home now.”

Some mountainous areas also had to cope with icy roads. The conditions caused more than 70 road accidents in Al Wosta region, civil defence said.

“More than 60 people suffered minor to severe injuries due to these accidents on Saturday and Sunday,” a spokesman said.

“Temperatures went down to about 6°C during the night, creating frost on the roads.”