Cyclone dies, horror still lives on..

Two people, including a child, were killed and three others went missing in the Omani province of Dhofar after Cyclone Mekunu hit the southern region of the Gulf Arab country, Omani police and state news media said yesterday. The three missing were Asian nationals, state news agency ONA reported. Mekunu started to weaken to a tropical storm in Oman and authorities began clearing operations yesterday after the heavy rain but warned residents to stay in their homes, with run-off from river valleys flooding most main roads in Dhofar. The cyclone also killed at least seven people in the Yemeni island of Socotra, a Yemeni official said on Saturday. At least 40 people were missing. 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. The storm flooded Socotra’s villages and capsized boats, leaving much of the island without access to communications. As wind and rain began to pummel southern Oman during the day, they extended the closure of the city’s airport until Saturday. Meanwhile, latest satellite images, analysis of weather maps and the results of numerical models of Cyclone Mekunu have shown that it has become a second class cyclone and is expected to move north to northwest, with the eye of the storm away from Saudi Arabia. The center of the storm is likely to be about 350 kilometers away and the wind speed around the center, is expected to be between 157 to 167 km/h, according to the General Authority of Meteorology and Environment Protection (GAMEP). The commission’s predictions indicate that the tropical situation, in Oman and the Republic of Yemen is likely to change. The cyclone, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm, may affect parts of the Kingdom, starting from the dawn on Saturday to next Tuesday.