A dear friend of mine splits her time between Nizwa and Muscat, and sent this email following up the cyclone that recently hit Oman.
I was just able to check my mail now. The past two days have been hell here. We stayed in Muscat and our building was only a couple of blocks up from the sea. I have never been so scared in my life. HOwever, the location of our building was safe compared to others.. The area, Al Ghobra, was hit horribly, there is still streets with knee high water. Cars are in submerged, some are wedged between lights or toppled on top of others. One of my favourite hotels i am sure it completely ruined-- it was next door to us. We got about 6 inches in our ground floor apartment, we took refuge in my mother in laws place which is on 2nd floor and watched as our street turned into a raging river, as well as the area behind our building which is a huge field ( a sand field,really). But, it was the safest street in the area as the water just flowed around us mostly, and headed back to the sea. We drove around yesterday to see the damage-Musct was hit the worst. The cyclone has turned into a tropical storm and is headed through the straight of Hormuz to Iran. So, we are all safe and fine. For some strange reason, Nizwa only got some heavy rain and a bit of flooding, more in some areas than others... but our building and everyone in it is fine.. we have electricity and no problems. LIfe goes on. It's hard to believe the capital looks like a war zone. Parts of the main artery highway the connects Muscat to other region has disappeared into the water!!! They 4 lane has become 2 lane in this section directed by policemen.. we passed it last night, and it took about one hr to go about 4 km... and this section barely has any pavement!!! But, past that, heading to Nizwa, it's like nothing happened! It's amazing!!!! WE are fortunate to have our apartment here in Nizwa. My mother inlaw and brother inlaw are coming to stay with us. Their apartment is fine but there is not electricity in alot of the city, and the poles are down and wires just pulled out from the poles and in water. I have no idea when that will be fixed. So, (my husband) talked his mum into coming as she needs to keep her insulin refrigerated. I thank God that he spared us from any harm. There was a time the day before yesterday in the afternoon (when the storm was at its peak) i thought we were going to drown because the water level was rising so quickly... it came past the wheel base of our 4x4. Luckily our cars are still working, but the Peugeot has electrical problems we will need to get fixed. At least we have a car that didn't get washed away!!
Just wanted you to know that this storm was predicted by an Indian resident who lived here. He left the Sultanate and went back to India. It happens every 34 years because of the alignment with the earth, sun and mars apparently. The Ruler has just arrived back from Egypt, he'll get things up and running quickly i am sure!
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4 comments:
Quite a harrowing story and it is good to hear that they all made it safely.
Of course, her Indian astrologer friend is a bit off since there has been no recorded storm of this magnitude in the Arabian Sea since before 1945 when they started keeping records. Life would be so much easier if things like this were predictable.
If you can catch the BBC, they showed some really scary clips of cars full of people being swept away.
VS
Gives you chill bumps reading that. Glad they are OK.
I find it interesting that there was so little about this on the news here. If it were anywhere else in the world, there would be 24 hour coverage.
I know, Tamara. I thought the same. Most people I've met have never heard of Oman.
If you go to youtube and do a search of Oman gonu, you will find lots of video. It is such an obscure part of the world that little news gets out... and in terms of the size of the storm, there were not many deaths - which is, of course good news.
There are lots of 'urban legends' flying around Oman about the storm already... like the Indian astrologer one in this email. I got another that claims that a Sikh man went to the palace and warned the Sultan that there was going to be a Tsunami... and he was put in jail.
Of course, one problem with that story is that the Sultan has been out of the country as everyone does once the hot season arrives.
Both water desalinization plants are out of commission so there is no drinking water in the capital area for the foreseeable future. Water trucks are parked everywhere giving out free drinking water. Some do have water in their pipes but it is contaminated, but at least you can flush the toilet.
No tales of looting have been heard, but some complaints of price gouging by private water companies, petrol stations, and supermarkets as they have jacked up prices since there are no deliveries with the road impassable. There are petrol lines and rationing.
One poster on Dave's talked about the government delivering generators by helicopter to places without power. (probably for medical facilities or police stations)
I am still impressed at how it is all being handled. People will start grousing soon when they realize how long it is going to take to get back to normal.
It is heartbreaking to see all those years of work and multi-millions of dollars of infrastructure destroyed. And all this work will have to be done in the searing heat of summer. Can you even pour concrete or asphalt in those temperatures?
VS
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