28 Dead In Mideast After Rare Cyclone

"Gonu" Missed Region's Oil Installations, But Trashed Arab World's Tidiest City, Muscat

(AP)  The storm was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 120 miles to the west, the center and oil officials said. There also was little damage to Oman's relatively small oil fields. But Wednesday's raging seas had prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively shutting down the country's oil exports.

Despite earlier predictions that the storm could have a damaging affect on the oil market, analysts on Thursday said its impact was minimal, with most of the movement occurring when the news broke that Gonu was headed this way.

"By now the whole thing must have calmed down, because the storm passed through. ... The impact was when the news (first) came out. Now the people have forgotten about that," said Manouchehr Takin, an analyst at the London-based Center for Global Energy Studies.

Brent crude fell on confirmation that Oman's main oil port hadn't suffered major damage from Gonu. In London, July Brent crude futures dropped 17 cents to US$70.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The Iranian state-owned Shana oil and energy news Web site said that as a precaution, Iran would stop operations at two offshore platforms but there were no reports of damages or difficulties at the country's oil installations.

"Everything is running as usual," Bahram Narimanian, spokesman of Iran's Offshore Oil Company told The Associated Press.

On Thursday, the storm sustained winds of up to 41 mph, less than half its strength of 153 kph 95 mph just 24 hours earlier, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. Even with the weaker wind speeds, Gonu, which means a bag made of palm leaves in the language of the Maldives, is believed to be the strongest cyclone here since record-keeping started in 1945.

At least 25 Gonu-related death were reported in Oman, including members of police rescue squads, and 26 others were reported missing, said al-Harthi, the police spokesman. Rescue teams were searching the devastated areas using helicopters and boats, he said.

Across the Gulf of Oman, Iranian state TV reported that a resident of the port city of Bandar Abbas was killed in a car accident Wednesday due to low visibility. Two provincial government workers bringing emergency supplies to a flooded area also were killed when a river overflowed and flipped their truck in Jask, state TV's Web site said.

The U.S. Navy said it was providing assistance to mariners, flying missions international airspace over the north Arabian Sea to assess Gonu's impact and would ready to offer other assistance if requested.

More than 20,000 people were evacuated Wednesday from their homes in Oman and were provided with government dwellings stocked with food, water, medicine and other supplies.

In another sign that Oman authorities were well-organized, Royal Oman Police sent text messages to mobile phones throughout the duration of the storm, urged residents to stay inside, said Brinda Toprani, an architect from Mumbai, India, who was visiting her parents in Muscat.

In Iran, authorities also evacuated hundreds of people living in the port city of Chabahr on the coast of the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday. But by Thursday, Gonu lost steam and the violent storm subsided into light rains and wind, though authorities warned people to stay away from the coast Thursday night as a precaution.

"Thanks to God, people are back in the bazaars and streets of the city," said Abbas Jafari, a 47-year-old taxi driver. "Yesterday was terrible. I had never seen such a storm in my life."

[mitch0927]

Maybe God is watching all of you and your stupid posts.

[octavianfdlr]

Did I understand this article to suggest that the capital of Oman was built in a river bed? (This seems a common occurence in places with little rain.)

Maybe we should stop building cities in river beds and swamps.

[thewatcher6]

God Is The Watcher

[bobacorn]

what?

[akkiko-2009]

A number of more cathastrophies coming your way unless you take heed of your belief and actions. While your eyes are open, your heart is closed to the grace of God for your pride is your god and your power is your weakness.

Gos is watching you....from a distance.

[akkiko-2009]

A number of more cathastrophies coming your way unless you take heed of your belief and actions. While your eyes are open, your heart is closed to the grace of God for your pride is your god and your power is your weakness.

Gos is watching you....from a distance.

[drivelphobe]

I hope this storm wipes Iran off of the face of the earth.

[dargay]

singinrick: what was God telling Americans with hurrican katrina?

[cathaleen]

Mother nature is very angry. Can't people take
the hint. Tornados, floods, fires, hurricanes,
cyclones, etc.

[ubrew12]

OR
maybe its just a cyclone...

[zippiez]

OR
Maybe God is saying "You people are trying to control that which you can't instead of that which you can."