The death toll from a cyclone that battered southern Oman and the Yemeni island of Socotra has reached 11, with eight sailors still missing, AFP reported Wednesday (May 30th).
Cyclone Mekunu hit Oman's Dhofar and al-Wusta provinces on Friday after intensifying from a category one to a category two cyclone, with winds of up to 170 kilometres per hour after it made landfall on Socotra on Thursday.
Oman's civil defence service on Saturday reported two deaths, adding to an earlier toll of a man and a 12-year-old girl.
The body of an Asian man was found late Saturday in Dhofar province, while a young Omani man was killed when he was swept away in his car by flooding, spokesman Lt. Col. Saeed al-Badaei said late Saturday.
Socotra's governor Ramzy Mahrous on Sunday said the death toll on the island remained seven -- five Yemenis and two Indian sailors. A further eight Indian sailors remain missing.
The southeastern part of the island remains cut off, but authorities are working to access the area and assess damage, Mahrous said, adding that 1,000 families on Socotra were evacuated after their homes were damaged.
The main road linking the airport to Hadibo, the island's main city, has been reopened, he said.
Oman's meteorology directorate announced late Saturday that "the direct effects of the tropical system are over”, with Cyclone Mekunu downgraded to the category of "deep depression".
Late Saturday it struck Saudi Arabia's arid Empty Quarter with heavy rains and strong winds.
The Saudi meteorological authority said Sunday that winds blew at 60 kilometres per hour, kicking up blinding dust storms.
Rains are expected to continue for two more days, drenching the area with more than 100 millimetres of rain, almost six times its annual average, Amman-based weather experts WASM said.
