CYCLONE MEKUNU BATTERS OMAN AND YEMEN, KILLING AT LEAST 10
▶ Dead in Oman included a girl, 12, hit by a door as winds howled and streets and homes were flooded
Cyclone Mekunu killed three people and caused widespread flooding as it passed through southern Oman yesterday, raising the death toll from the storm to at least 10 since it struck the island of Socotra on Thursday.
Omani police said those killed were a girl, 12, who was hit in the head by a door flung open by the strong wind on Friday night, an Asian labourer who died in a flooded valley and an Omani national in a 4x4 whose vehicle was swept away in floodwaters.
Three Asians were missing, the Oman News Agency reported.
Mekunu had developed into very severe cyclone as it approached Salalah on the Oman coast on Friday night, with sustained winds of between 170 and 180kph and gusts of up to 200kph, India’s meteorological department said.
The storm dumped 278 millimetres of rain on the city and the surrounding Dhofar region – almost three times the annual average – causing widespread flooding.
Torrents of water swept away cars and washed away roads in some areas, while the strong wind blew off roofs and toppled utility poles.
As the rain and wind subsided later in the day, the government mobilised its army to rescue 300 people trapped by the flooding, and flew in food, medicine and clothes for the storm victims to a military airport in Dhofar.
Salalah’s airport was to reopen today after being closed on Thursday night, Oman’s aviation authority said, but there was no information about the port, which was also closed as the storm approached.
Mekunu was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved inland towards the Yemeni border and the Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia.
The governor of Yemen’s Al Marah province bordering Oman said on Twitter that the storm had destroyed homes and disrupted communication lines and water services, but no fatalities were reported.
The Yemeni island of Socotra was still recovering from the devastation caused by the storm yesterday, with at least 40 people still missing including Yemeni, Sudanese and Indian nationals.
Five Yemenis and two Indian sailors were confirmed dead, said Yemen’s Fisheries Minister, Fahad Kafin.
Rescue teams on Friday found four Indian sailors alive. They were among 17 who had been reported missing on Thursday when the cyclone hit Socotra’s port, and search operations are continuing for eight Indian sailors.
A plane carrying 40 tonnes of relief supplies from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation arrived on Socotra yesterday, state news agency Wam reported.
Emirates Red Crescent workers reopened the main road connecting the main city of Hadibou to the airport and other areas of the island.
Mekunu was the fourth cyclone to hit southern Yemen in recent years.
Cyclone Sagar hit this month and in late 2015, Socotra was hit by Cyclone Chapala followed just days later by Cyclone Megh, which destroyed hundreds of homes and killed 18 people on the island in the Gulf of Aden.
Oman’s government has declared a three-day holiday after tropical cyclone Mekunu tore through the country causing widespread flooding in the southern Dhofar region.
The storm, which left more than 40 missing after it battered the Unesco-listed Socotra island, made landfall on the Omani coastline on Friday.
The death toll is so far three. An Indian labourer died in a flooded valley, a man was reported drowned when his car was swept away, and a 12-yearold girl was killed when winds flung her into a wall, Oman police said.
The cyclone caused widespread flooding across the usually arid sultanate, with Oman’s Directorate General of Meteorology recording 278.2 millimetres of rain in Salalah over 24 hours.
In an average year, the city receives just 130mm of precipitation.
The rain turned normally dry wadis turbid and flooded streets and homes.
The Category 2 cyclone had wind speeds of up to 170 kilometres per hour, and was reported to be the most powerful storm in Oman’s history.
Witnesses said water rose up to a metre deep in some streets, damaging cars and gardens.
“Water entered the front yard of my house and was just a foot from the threshold of my front door,” Abdullah Al Mushaikhi, a resident of Salalah told The
National. “My car was almost submerged by the water.”
Another witness said part of the wall of his grocery shop collapsed from water currents.
“The combination of strong winds and water pushed my shop’s wall down early this morning,” grocer Ahmed Al Sinani said. “All my vegetables and fruits were washed away.”
A high alert remains in force in Salalah, with officials urging inhabitants to remain indoors for the next 24 hours except for essential travel.
The three-day holiday for the public and private sector is intended to encourage Omanis to stay safely in their homes while emergency crews begin a cleanup operation.
By yesterday morning, the weather bureau had downgraded Mekunu to a tropical storm, with wind speeds gusting at between 65kph and 93kph.
The UAE has not been affected by the cyclone.
Authorities are still on high alert in Salalah, warning residents to stay indoors for the next day except for essential travel