Rains hit life in parts of Sultanate

@kabeeryousef -

Torrential rains that continued on Friday in different parts of the Sultanate caused flashfloods and affected life for a while as movement between various wilayats became near to impossible.

The Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) has urged everyone to adhere to the procedures set by the competent authorities and to stay safe from rains as well as the coronavirus.

Al Batinah and Sharqiya governorates received heavy to moderate rains. Life in Jaalan Bani Bu Hassan was badly hit as wadis overflowed and many vehicles were washed away in flood waters.

The Royal Oman Police (ROP) Aviation sources said that it carried out a rescue operation for 19 people, including 10 children, from one of the rest houses in Wadi Al Arabiyan in the Wilayat of Quriyat. The house where they were living was marooned after the valleys overflowed and connection with the area was snapped. They were saved and transferred to a safe place and are keeping good.

Bilad Sur was one of the worst affected and many families had to be evicted from houses in low-lying areas and substantial damage to property was reported.

Civic workers were engaged in clearing the roads and removing the obstacles even during the rains and brought back life to normalcy. Efforts were made to restore the power outage caused by the heavy rains.

The MET office under the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said rains would continue in some parts of the country including the Hajar Mountain range and most of the governorates will remain partly cloudy with chances of rain of varying intensity, sometimes thunderstorms, accompanied by active winds.

Light to moderate winds on the coastal areas of the Sea of ​​Oman, with directions from easterly to northeasterly and active southwesterly southwesterly winds are expected.

It further warns that sea will be rough with moderate waves on the Sea of ​​Oman while horizontal visibility during thunderstorms will be minimal. Wadis will continue to overflow and anyone found to be crossing a flowing wadi will be subject to fines and imprisonment, according to the ROP.

Rains brought temperatures down and the Wilayat of Seeb reported a maximum of 34 degrees Celsius and the minimum 28 degrees Celsius during the day. Salalah experienced the maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and the minimum was 26 degrees Celsius.

Wilayat Nakhal in South Al Batina received heavy to moderate rains resulting in heavy water overflow resulting in many areas adjacent to the mountains.

The rains were abundantly concentrated on mountain villages, especially Al To, Al Mahalil, Wadi Mistal Al Sabah, Al Abyad, Wadi Bani Haras, and many other villages in these areas.

Photo by Khalfan al Ruzaiqi