(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) In the latest update from Oman on Cyclone Mekunu, the Public Authority for Civil Aviation issued a statement extending the 24 hour shut down of Salalah Airport.
The statement reads, "Due to the severity of the damage to the Dhofar governorate, Salalah International Airport will remain closed for an additional 24 hours on Saturday, May 26."
@PACAOMAN extends the shutdown of airtraffic movement in Salalah airport on Saturday for another 24 hours due to the impact of the Tropical Cyclone #Mekunu in Dhofar governorate #Mekunu #ArabianSea #???????_??????_???????? #???_????? #?????? #????_?????? pic.twitter.com/1RLpLN1Gdq
- ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????? (@PACAOMAN) May 25, 2018 The Oman Meteorology Authority alsopublished a 3D cross-section of the cloud band affecting the Dhofar governeroate at different layers of the atmosphere:
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3D Vertical cross section for the clouds band affecting Dhofar governorate at different layers of the atmosphere
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#Mekunu pic.twitter.com/KN1KjosLgW
- ??????? ???????? (@OmanMeteorology) May 25, 2018 12:55pm According to the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Sultanate of Oman, the Directorate General of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Governorate of Dhofar issued a statement that there will be no Friday prayers held due to the severity of the weather conditions affecting the area.
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- Sumaya (@Too74045776) May 25, 2018 "All mosques will be closed until further notice," the release added.
12:30pm The latest updates from the Oman Metereological Authority indicate that the storm has been upgraded to a Category 2, reaching wind speeds of up to 167km/hr.
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Latest observations show that tropical cyclone #Mekunu has intensified to
Cat 2 with wind speed ranging between 80 to 85 Kt
- ??????? ???????? (@OmanMeteorology) May 25, 2018 The Public Authority for Civil Aviation issued its fifth warning in less than 24 hours at 12pm local time, indicating the storm's centre was less than 150km from Salalah.
Rainfall is expected to reach between 20 and 60cm which may lead to flooding, with waves reaching between 8 and 12 metres in height.
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- ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????? (@PACAOMAN) May 25, 2018 11:45am The cyclone is expected to make landfall early Saturday near Salalah, Oman's third-largest city and home to some 200,000 people near the sultanate's border with war-ravaged Yemen.
Conditions quickly deteriorated in Salalah after sunrise Friday, with winds and rain beginning to pick up. Strong waves smashed into empty tourist beaches. Many holidaymakers fled the storm Thursday night before Salalah International Airport closed.
India's Meteorological Department said the storm in the Arabian Sea was packing maximum sustained winds of 160-170 kilometers (99-106 miles) per hour, with gusts of up to 180 kph (112 mph).
On Socotra, Gov. Ramzy Mahrous said one ship sank and two others ran aground in the storm. The storm sent torrents of rain pouring through homes and streets, leaving residents soaking wet and trying to wade to safety.
He said of the 17 missing: "We consider them dead."
Yemen's self-exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in a statement ordered troops under his command on the island to help citizens, deliver supplies and reopen roads.
The island, listed by UNESCO as a World 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 plants, snails and reptiles that can be found nowhere else on the planet. It is known for its flower-and-fruit bearing dragon blood tree, which resembles an umbrella and gets its name from the dark red sap it secretes.
Salalah, the hometown of Oman's longtime ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, already began sandbagging low-lying doors and warning residents not to go into valleys for fears of flashing flooding.
Oman sent rescue helicopters to remote villages in its Dhofar governorate to evacuate those who could be impacted by flooding or mudslides. It also evacuated the critically ill from Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, flying them north to Muscat, the country's capital.
The port of Salalah, crucial to Qatar amid a boycott by four Arab nations over a diplomatic spat with Doha, said it also had taken precautions and secured cranes ahead of the cyclone.
Seasonal rains are nothing unusual for southern Oman this time of year. While the rest of the Arabian Peninsula bakes in areas where temperatures near 50 degrees Celsius (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 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) during its annual monsoon festival.
Powerful cyclones, however, are rare. Over a roughly 100-year period ending in 1996, only 17 recorded cyclones struck Oman. In 2007, Cyclone Gonu tore through the sultanate and later even reached Iran, causing $4 billion in damage in Oman alone and killing over 70 people across the Mideast.
The last hurricane-strength storm to strike within 160 kilometers (100 miles) of Salalah came in May 1959, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's archives. However, that cyclone was categorized as a Category 1 hurricane, meaning it only had winds of up to 152 kph (95 mph).
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 and are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia.
Mekunu, which means "mullet" in Dhivehi, the language spoken in the Maldives, is on track to potentially be the same strength as a Category 2 hurricane at landfall. It also comes just days after Cyclone Sagar struck Somalia.
Oman's Public Authority for Civil Aviation has just issued a release indicating that due to the severity of the weather conditions, Salalah International Airport will be closed for 24 hours, starting from 12am on Friday, May 25.
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- ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????? (@PACAOMAN) May 24, 2018
The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Muscat has also issued an advisory to its citizens in Oman. "Citizens are urged to take precautions and stay away from all shoreline and valley areas. Remain alert for all changing weather conditions and follow the safety instructions pending the landfall of the cyclone. Register for the Tawajudi service and contact the embassy for all alerts."
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- UAE EMBASSY - MUSCAT (@embassymct) May 24, 2018 The tropical cyclone continues to edge in a northwesterly direction from the Arabian Sea, now at a distance of 440km from the coast.
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Latest update about the Tropical System in Arabian Sea #????? #???_????? pic.twitter.com/ArB44YgPVj
- ??????? ???????? (@OmanMeteorology) May 24, 2018 According to a release issued by Oman's Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) and published on their twitter handle, the cyclone could potentially reach a category two storm level in the next 12 hours.
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- ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????? (@PACAOMAN) May 24, 2018 Hospital evacuation Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah is evacuating all patients under its care, with critical cases and dialysis patients being transferred by the Royal Air Force, the Ministry of Health announced.
"The Directorate of the General Directorate of Health Services in the province of Kifar announced that based on the climatic predictions of the tropical situation of Mekunu, Sultan Qaboos Hospital will be evacuated from two locations and transfer all critical cases and all patients with renal dialysis, in cooperation with the Royal Air Force of Oman," the ministry said in a statement online.
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- ????? ????? - ????? (@OmaniMOH) May 24, 2018 The release continued: "Patients in stable condition and who were admitted for deliveries were being transferred to the Armed Forces Hospital in Salalah, while emergency cases will be transferred to the Cardiac Surgery Center in Salalah."
The ministry also posted images of patients being evacuated on its Twitter handle.
Transporting critical cases & patients needing dialysis from Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah in preparation to airlift them to Muscat in collaboration with Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) pic.twitter.com/JI5M8pX71Q
- ????? ????? - ????? (@OmaniMOH) May 24, 2018 #happeningnow
From Royal Air Force of Oman Airport in Salalah, Critical cases and kidney dialysis patients are being airlifted to #Muscat #?????? #????_?????? #???_?????_2018 pic.twitter.com/GNdxCc5odi
- ????? ????? - ????? (@OmaniMOH) May 24, 2018
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