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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

The trail of tropical storms since 1977

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Although the Sultanate is one of the leading countries in dealing with all issues related to the environment and climate, the country is not new to tropical storms.


The last to hit the country is Shaheen, which has ravaged many parts of Oman and reported to have claimed 11 lives and caused widespread damage to properties.


Tropical storm Shaheen, which began to emerge in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, was named by Qatar and it translates to “royal white falcon” in English or “Hawk”. The initial storm was named ‘Gulab,’ which translates to ‘Rose’.


Looking at the years from 1977, Oman has been a target of frequent storms accompanied by heavy downpours.


Although literature of the history of natural disasters in Oman is very sparse, like many other countries in the Arabian Peninsula, the Observer looks at the tropical storms that lashed the Sultanate during the last five decades.


Till 2000, naming of the cyclonic storms was not done. It was under the initiative of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific naming of the cyclonic storms started in the same year.


The India Meteorological Department (IMD) names the cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. It also issues advisories to 12 other nations in the region on the development of cyclones and storms.


In 2000, a group of nations – Oman, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand-- decided to name cyclones in the region.


In 2018, five more countries were added-- Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.


1977: According to available reports, the worst storm in terms of fatality that the country suffered was in June 1977 when 105 Omanis reportedly lost their lives in addition to damage to properties.


However, in terms of severity, the number of people affected and the economic loss, Cyclone Gonu in 2007 tops the list.


The 1977 storm formed off the west coast of India in the Arabian Sea, and curved westward to reach peak winds of 110 km per hour. It struck Masirah Island and later southern Oman on June 13, before dissipating the next day over Saudi Arabia.


Producing wind gusts to 230 km per hour, the storm was the strongest cyclone on record to hit the Arabian Peninsula until Cyclone Gonu hit in 2007. About 95 per cent of Marisah Island was damaged by the strong winds, including much of the military base.


2002: The Oman cyclone in May 2002, which was officially known as Cyclonic Storm ARB 01, brought Dhofar its heaviest rain in 30 years and caused heavy damage to properties. It reached cyclonic storm status on May 9, with wind speed of more than 65 km per hour and made landfall near Salalah.


2007: Cyclone Gonu was the most devastating cyclone which reported to have claimed the lives of 49 people. Its effects began before the arrival of the actual cyclone. Seven hours before the centre of the cyclone hit the north-eastern coastline, Oman was already experiencing the impact of rough winds, torrential rain falls reaching 24 inches near the coastline leaving many areas flooded.


Strong winds knocked down power lines and communication poles across the coastline of the country leaving thousands stranded and isolated. The most effected cities were Sur and the Capital City of Muscat where infrastructure facilities were severely damaged in the early hours of the event.


More than 2,000 people were airlifted from damaged areas and water was delivered by fishing boats to isolated towns near the coastline. Like all other public infrastructures, hospitals were flooded and cut off because of damaged roads. The Omani authorities have estimated the direct cost of the event to be US$ 4 billion.


2012: Cylone Phet was the third named cyclone of the 2010 North Indian Ocean tropical season. Phet, a Thai word meaning Diamond, developed from a low pressure area in the Abian Sea that organised into a tropical cyclone on May 31.


A Category 3 storm with sustained winds of over 130 mph, Phet dropped heavy rainfall while moving across eastern Oman, with a peak of 603 mm in Qurayyat.


The rains flooded arid areas and collected into wadis – normally dry river beds. The fatalities have been reported to be 24 with thousands of homes were wrecked across Oman. After exiting Oman on June 4, the cyclone turned to the northeast and later to the east while continuing to weaken.


2014: Nilofar, which means Water Lily, hit the Oman coast in August 2014 bringing heavy rainfall and severe flooding in the wadis near Quriyat. No casualties, except damage to property, were reported


2015: Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Chapala was a powerful tropical cyclone that passed Oman without causing much damage in the country. Chapala was the third named storm of the 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.


It developed as a depression on 28 October off western India, and strengthened a day later into a cyclonic storm. Chapala then rapidly intensified amid favorable conditions. After peak intensity, Chapala skirted the Yemeni island of Socotra on 1 November, becoming the first hurricane-force storm there since 1922.


2018: Cyclone Mekunu hit Dhofar and Al Wusta provinces in May 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. It left a trail of destruction and multi million-dollar damages.


The name ‘Mekunu’ was chosen by the Maldives. In Dhivehi, the country’s national language, the term means “Mullet fish”. The storm was formed in the aftermath of tropical storm ‘Sagar’, which hit northwestern Somalia after forming in the Gulf of Aden.


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