Mass Evacuations As Cyclone Gonu Hits Oman

Oil Prices Stable Amid Forecasts That Powerful Storm Is Heading For Iran

(AP) 
As of 11 a.m. EDT, the storm was located about 70 miles northeast of Muscat, moving in a northwesterly direction, the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of about 80 mph — well below the wind speeds that were recorded as it approached the Arabian Peninsula.

Gonu, which means a bag made of palm leaves in the language of the Maldives, was expected to make landfall on the Iranian coast just east of the Strait of Hormuz late Thursday, according to a tracking map posted on the Joint Typhoon Warning Center's Web site.

Even with the weaker wind speeds, Gonu is believed to be the strongest cyclone to threaten the Arabian Peninsula since record-keeping started in 1945.

"Historical record in that part of the world doesn't go back that far because these types of storms are very, very unusual for this part of the world. It's likely that parts of Oman have never experienced storms like this," said Julian Heming, a meteorologist at The Met Office, a weather tracking agency within the British Ministry of Defense.

Electricity went out in Muscat by noon Wednesday, as 62 mph winds hit the capital. Health ministry official Ali bin Gaafar bin Mohammed said rescue workers were having difficulties reaching affected areas because of flooded streets.

Flights in and out of Oman's Seeb International Airport were also canceled, according to official Hamad bin Ali al Abri.

Shareefa bint Khalfan, the minister of social development, said more than 20,000 people had been evacuated and housed in dwellings stocked with medicine and necessary supplies. Police said a dead body washed had ashore in the eastern coastal city of Sur, and there were reports of people trapped inside homes in low-lying areas around the capital.

Oman's eastern provinces were cut off, with heavy rains making roads unusable and severing communication lines. "We have no communication with them, nothing," said a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity as is customary for security officials in Oman.

Blogger Vijayakumar Narayanan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that many streets in Muscat were flooded and visibility was near zero at midmorning Wednesday. Earlier, he wrote in his blog that some of the wadis — or dry riverbeds — had flooded, causing roadblocks.

NowPublic.com, a journalism Web site, reached out to the blogger in Oman. The AP began working with NowPublic this year to obtain citizen journalism images and video for distribution to news organizations.

The potential for flash flooding was high both in Oman and in neighboring countries like the UAE, as rain washes down from mountains into the dry riverbeds that cut through the desert. Another potential worry are landslides and mudslides as the normally arid mountains get lashed with rain.

Northern Oman is arid and hilly, while the south is somewhat greener and gets some rainfall from monsoon rains.

In Iran, authorities evacuated hundreds of people living in the port of Chabahr on the Sea of Oman. Iranian state TV said floods caused by heavy rain have already cut off some major roads in the southeast.

Winds gusting up to 69 mph were buffeting coastal areas near the town of Jask, about 1,125 miles southeast of Tehran, state television said.

"University and school students were moved to higher ground in the area to avoid the cyclone effects," said Hojjat Ali Shayanfar, head of emergency services in Sistan Baluchistan province.

Iranian officials said, however, that the storm was unlikely to threaten its oil platforms and installations in the Persian Gulf because they are located far from its path.

"All Iranian offshore oil platforms in the Persian Gulf are working based on their schedule without any interruption," Bahram Narimanian, spokesman of Iran's Offshore Oil Company, told the AP. "However, we have prepared for any possible difficulty."

[infidel_us]

Allah willing, this will strike at the heart of the infidels currently occupying Iran. The sand will run red with the blood of our enemies.

Sincerely,

Geo. W. Bush

:)

[weareone2]

Opps, that was Andrea in the Atlantic. Alvin & Barbara in the Pacific.

[weareone2]

It's interesting that while most news events are hyped up, recent tropical storm/hurricane news items have been downplayed. Cyclone Gonu is not just the strongest storm to hit this area in 60 years. Since 1945, there is no record of ANY type of tropical cyclone striking Iran. Similarly, Barry was referred to as the first tropical storm of the hurricane season, totally ignoring not one but two tropical storms that occurred off the Pacific coast a few weeks before the hurricane season even began. Also, Alvin in the Atlantic just before Barry.
I would think that the fact that there were three tropical storms before the season even officially began would have been especially newsworthy.
Surely it has nothing to do with Mobile/Exxon being a big source of advertising.

[cmp271]

Let's hope it wipes out Iran.

Oil prices should not go up. There is plenty in storage. We are gouged every time the weather changes.

[kevboom]

I'm sure the oil companies will be kind and not take advantage of this opportunity to price gouge. Yeah, right. Hold onto your wallets folks. Here we go again.