[ad_1]
DEVELOPING STORY
Residents urged to evacuate coastal areas and authorities delay flights to and from capital Muscat.
Tropical Cyclone Shaheen is bearing down on Oman, prompting authorities to suspend flights to and from the capital and to urge residents to evacuate coastal areas.
A child who had been swept away by water was found dead, the state news agency said, and another person was missing.
The eye of the storm was approaching the capital Muscat on Sunday, surrounded by top winds of about 139km/h (86 mph).
The cyclone is expected to “directly impact north Al-Batinah, Al Dhahira, Al Buraimi and Al Dakhliya”, a statement by the country’s weather agency said on Sunday.
According to Al Jazeera’s weather expert Jeff Harrington, one of the biggest risks this cyclone poses is that in Oman’s desert climate the “ground is bone dry, so it can’t absorb the rain”.
“The second part is this is a mountainous area, so that means the rain falls high above and it gushes.. so the combination of both of these would lead to the risk of high flooding,” he added.
Warning (4)#shaheencyclone pic.twitter.com/Y31AtBfLIu
— هيئة الطّيران المدني (@CAAOMN) October 3, 2021
The storm’s centre was expected to hit between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm (1400-1800 GMT), bringing very high winds and heavy rainfall, but the outer bands of the system are already being felt.
The national emergency committee said the power supply would be cut in al-Qurm, east of the capital, to avoid accidents. More than 2,700 people were put up in emergency shelters.
Most of the oil-exporting country’s five million people live in and around Muscat. Roads in the capital would be open only to vehicles on emergency and humanitarian journeys until the storm dies down, authorities said.
The country also declared a two-day national holiday on Sunday and Monday, shuttering schools, “due to the adverse climate conditions”, the state news agency reported.
Traffic suspended in all streets in Muscat except Muscat Expressway till the end of the direct impacts of Cyclone Shaheen. There will be an access only for emergency and humanitarian cases. https://t.co/1GkKSJj272
— وكالة الأنباء العمانية (@OmanNewsAgency) October 3, 2021
The neighbouring United Arab Emirates also warned those on its eastern reaches to be prepared for the storm.
[ad_2]
Source link