Five people dead, 40 missing in Yemen's Socotra after cyclone

Five people were killed and at least 40 missing on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Friday as Cyclone Mekunu pummelled the area before making its way to the Arabian Peninsula’s southern coast. 

The dead were four Yemenis and one Indian national, residents and medical sources said, while the missing included Yemenis, Indians and Sudanese. 

Among those missing were three local sailors lost when their ship capsized off the coast of the island. 

Yemen declared a state of emergency on Thursday for Socotra, which lies between southern Yemen and the Horn of Africa and is renowned for its unique animal and plant life. 

Largely untouched by Yemen’s three-year-old war, it is under the control of the internationally-recognised government whose president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is in exile in Saudi Arabia. 

The storm flooded Socotra’s villages and capsized boats, leaving much of the island without access to communications.

Two dead in Oman

Cyclone Mekunu late on Friday lashed southern Oman with high winds and rain, killing at least two and wounding three a day after wreaking havoc on the Yemeni island of Socotra.

Oman’s directorate general of meteorology said the centre of the cyclone struck west of Salalah, the second largest city in the Gulf state, accompanied with strong winds, torrential rains and high tides.

“Latest observations show that the centre of the cyclone hit the coast of Dhofar province,” west of Salalah, the main city in the province, the directorate said in its latest warning. 

State-run Oman Television showed footage of large areas covered with floods in Dhofar and the nearby Al-Wusta provinces. 

Dozens of vehicles were seen submerged in several areas. 

Head of the directorate Abdullah al-Khoduri told Oman TV that the cyclone, which intensified to category 2 early Friday, was downgraded to category 1 after losing some of its strength.

Weakening 

He said it would weaken further Saturday morning into a tropical storm and gradually diminish into a tropical depression before hitting the southern parts of Saudi Arabia.

Police said a 12-year old girl died when a gust of wind sent her smashing into a wall. Three Asians who were wounded by the cyclone were rescued. 

Police also said that civil defence teams had rescued dozens of people who were trapped because of floods. 

Civil defence said it had evacuated 10,000 people from schools and government buildings, mainly in the city of Salalah which has a population of 200,000.

Authorities have urged other residents to stay indoors. 

Strong winds had already generated 12-metre-high (40-foot-high) waves offshore of the sultanate. 

The civil aviation authority closed Salalah airport until midnight on Saturday. 

In 2007, Cyclone Gonu tore through Oman, killing at least 49 people and causing damage estimated at $3.9 billion (3.3 billion euros).