Cyclone Mekunu pounds Yemen island Socotra on path to Oman
SALALAH, Oman — Cyclone Mekunu roared over the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea on its way to Oman on Thursday, sending torrents of water rushing down streets and sinking at least two ships. At least 17 people were reported missing in the powerful storm.
Indian 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.
Mekunu’s sustained winds reached 96 mph, with gusts reaching 109 mph, India said.
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.
Soaking wet residents attempted to find shelter from the storm, which brought heavy rain, 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 Yemen’s 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-andfruit-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. 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 122 degrees Fahrenheit, those in the sleepy port city of Salalah enjoy rainy weather that sees fog and cool air wrap around its lush mountainsides. Temperatures drop down around 77 degrees Fahrenheit during its annual monsoon festival.