Emergency measures in place for cyclone

“Nationals and expatriates staying in the risk zones in Hafa have already been shifted to safer places. Food and other items have been stocked and are being distributed,” the Shura member said.

Last night’s advisory from Oman meteorological department said that tropical cyclone Chapala was 400km away from the Dhofar coast and the surface wind speed was around 153 to 171km per hour. “During the next 12 hours, Chapala is likely to downgrade to Grade 1. Torrential rains with fresh to strong winds are expected and the sea condition would be rough with wave height reaching five to seven metres,” the advisory added. According to a top official of the Public Authority of Civil Aviation (PACA), more rain is expected in the Dhofar region as winds have picked up speed.

“Already, isolated rains have been reported from Salalah, Thumrait, Taqah, Sadah and Raysut. In the coming hours, there may be heavy rain and wind,” Dr. Saeed Al Sarmi, head of Research Centre, told the Times of Oman.

Earlier in the day, wadis in Al Jazer area started to overflow due to heavy rain.

“Weather is changing again and again. It may rain heavily,” Abdul Kalam, a resident of Salalah, said.

Meanwhile, medics at Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah said they are on high alert and ready to face any kind of emergencies.

“We will be working 24X7 for the coming two days. All emergency equipment and medicines have been stocked. Non-emergency pa- tients have been moved out. The hospital is 90 per cent vacant. Patients in critical condition have been moved to the first floor,” medics at Salalah hospital said.

As part of the emergency plans, a number of ships of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) have sailed from Said bin Sultan Naval Base on Sunday to Dhofar and Al Wusta to provide support.

Already, Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulances (PACDA) personnel and army units are on the standby to face the situation. Late in the evening, PACDA tweeted emergency numbers in Dhofar region — Taqah: 23258077, Raysut: 23219131, Mirbat: 23268594, Salalah: 23290077, Aukqad: 23212146, Al Sada: 23234975, Thumrait: 91281340.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence and Sultan Armed Forces have mobilised all their potential to deal with the tropical cyclone.

Also, Salalah Port Company’s management have stopped their operations until Monday.

However, Oman Airport Management Company (OMAC) said that the flights to and from Salalah Airport will operate as usual.

The emergency teams in the telecom sectors are also set to work round-the-clock to ensure uninterrupted communication during the cyclone. Omantel and Ooredoo have been told to activate their emergency plans by Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The TRA has also requested the telecom operators to activate national roaming in the affected governorates.