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[007]

I have heard in the news that a powerful tropical Cyclone 'Gonu' has hit the eastern coast of the Sultanate of Oman, forcing thousands to leave their homes as well as disrupting oil and gas exports.
Anybody there in Muscat affected by cyclone 'Gonu'?
Is the internet working in Muscat?
It seems the satellite and land broadcast in Oman are shut down!

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B1D02F6C-AC97-4D7A-BD45-5E35BFD6EB7C.htm

It seems 'Gunu' is heading towards Iran!
I wonder if uncle Sam is involved in this by using 'artificial' cyclones to destroy Iran!!!
(I know for sure that VS will interfere here ).



The height of some sea waves reached 12m.

[kuberkat]

All safe here, except for a lot of mopping yesterday morning and the usual wadi flooding the road. (Are the roads constructed especially to intersect with wadis?)

[veiledsentiments]

I don't think it is possible to not have roads intersect wadis at some point. I was impressed at how organized the system is with the setting of the painted poles where the wadis cross so that you know how deep the water is. Not that everyone pays attention. They were also good at getting the police out there quickly to stop people who were prone to see how deep it 'really' was.

Friends at SQU wrote that they were only without power for a couple hours, but there are still many places in the capital area without power. The pictures of the waves on the Corniche at NowPublic were quite impressive. It looked like they took out at least one of those little kiosks. I wonder how much water got into the old souq area and the old walled enclave area next to it. I hope everyone got their property stored on high ground.

The preliminary news this morning was 12 dead in Oman, mostly police and security people it reported, as they were the ones who had to be out in it. There are still people missing.

VS

[eha]

We in the SQU area (al Khod and Mabeyla) seem to have been very lucky indeed, thank God. Looking at the aerial surveys on television, damage must have been considerable on the south coast and in low-lying areas around Muscat. A nurse at the hospital told me that a good many casualties came in during the day. I saw some road damage driving through the al-Khod area today, but nothing in comparison to what's happened in other areas.
I'd just like to say that everyone I've spoken to has been impressed by the well-organized reaction of the meteorological service and the media; can't answer for the rest of the country, but in this area, we had plenty of warning and a chance to prepare for trouble. Didn't stop the two west-facing rooms being flooded, but it would have been worse if I hadn't known what to expect!
My sincere condolences to anyone who's been affected by the storm-- particularly anyone connected with the Emergency Services, who had no choice but to brave the situation.

[kuberkat]

I'll second that, eha. It is sad that there has been loss of life and of precious infrastructure, especially in the capital, which affects the whole population. But hats off to the authorities who have dealth with a very taxing situation in a remarkable efficient way. If this approach can be applied to all areas- even without an emergency- the sky is the limit for Oman.

[carnac]

Had to work Wed. am. Left at 11, trying to get home to MQ. Main highway so flooded front bumper of car sent bow wave at 3kph. Made it to Khuwair and road closed with car ahead beyond road closure water up to roof. Tried all side roads; no luck. 5 minutes away from home. Later friend with 4WD was able to get me home. 25 minute trip took 5 hours thru beyond- belief flooding.
Qurum shopping area destroyed. Qurum Beach Corniche road gone. Bahwan Toyota with hundreds of cars gone. Many roads/bridges gone. More dead than advertised. Now have water after 3 days. Joy to be able to flush toilet.MQ Al Fair empty shelves. Most stores closed - no resupply available. MQ not as hard hit as Qurum which is devastated.Death Valley Road impassible. Roadway yesterday outside Grand Mosque 1 lane: heavy equipment trying to remove dried, concrete-hard thick mud. Local forum photos of devastation removed, by govt suggestion,I think. Anyway, no longer available.
Fatalities will exceed published reports.
Sur hit hard. Muscat hit harder. Many houses gone, but generally people seem to be ok. French family lost in vehicle in Sur. Many everywhere sheltering in schools. Large army vehicles and earth-moving equipment everywhere trying to fix. Military helicopters ferrying generators dangling from cables underneath. Cars everywhere piled on other cars from water force. Homes with refrigerators forced open by water filled with mud. People pumping out their home to find three bodies drowned on the floor.
I was so lucky:first, to not be killed during my initial abortive attempt to get home; second, that all I had to endure was water up to my calves and a ten-minute fight to get into my building thru a crashed tree. I have waterand food, and am so much luckier than thousands of others.
Anyone saying everything is fine either is way outside Muscat or Sur, or is fearful of being tracked. The government has politely rejected outside help, and maybe they can eventually do it all themselves, but the secrecy has clamped down.
Watch: I will be deported for writing this. Their loss.

[veiledsentiments]

Thank for the harrowing descriptions Carnac. I'm not sure why you would be punished to reporting it as from everything I have read and seen (granted not complete), the Omani authorities did everything humanly possible for any government to do to try to protect its citizens from an unprecedented storm. They made the Bush government response to Katrina look like the complete incompetents they are.

When you say that the Qurum shopping area is destroyed... do you mean that new shopping center or all the way to the Sabco Center area?

What have you heard about Mutrah? All I could think was that the flow in Wadi il-Kabeer could have wiped it out.

How about the old souq and the old walled area along the Corniche near the port in Old Muscat? As I saw all the photos of the massive waves breaching the rock seawall, all I could think was that all that water was going to end up in that area.

We all send our condolences to the families who lost members. It sounds to me as if the Omani government is still doing its very best to help fix the damage from the storm and should not let pride stand in the way of getting help... and giving the outside world the news of what really happened.

VS

on edit: I have received some emails sharing the experiences of friends of friends with pictures and one comment that stood out is that there have been no reports of looting... only stories of people pulling together to help friends who have lost everything.

[Zola6666]

I just talked with a friend in Sur. She said the Murtrah Souk was destroyed...and the Corniche near it.

In Sur, the college is flooded and with no electricity. Some people living in a hotel near the beach were flood out. Many places have no running water or electricity. My friend was able to stay with friends who had air conditioning - a must if you want to sleep at night.

I'm trying to find out about Sohar.

The Oman Observer, http://omanobserver.com had some photos of Muscat with roads washed out and cars sticking up at all angles in mud.

The dead, according to the newspaper, seems to be run from 40 up to 90...

In Salalah, NO consequences from the storm.

[007]

[veiledsentiments]

If you paid attention and read carefully 007, you would have noted that that never in recorded history have I had one positive word to say about the current American administration.

I visited Youtube yesterday and scanned the various newspaper sites of Oman and Emirates and there were some reports of looting in the Qurum area where the upscale shops and malls had their main floors washed open. But I don't know that most of the items to be found were anything other than waterlogged and destroyed. McDonald's had water almost to the top of its roof, yet my previous supervisor who lives very near it, but on slightly higher ground had only some wind damages. (She was at the hospital where her daughter had a baby that night... blessings within the storm...)

What I am finding is that there is some mis-use of the word 'destroyed' as that would suggest that the buildings had collapsed or washed away. Yes, the old souq was surely flooded by the water that accumulated as it went over the breakwater, but I don't believe that there is a major wadi there so that it was rushing water. At least I don't recall and hope not. I don't think the structure is mudbrick, so it should be repairable - but it is certainly a very old area, so structures would be more fragile. I haven't been able to locate anyone who has been down there as getting around is difficult with all the washed out roads. I wish we could get some pictures of it. There must have been some tourists in the cheap hotels down there. Even in Qurum, the structures are still standing, although the current took away the windows in the showrooms and washed away the merchandise. Oman has fairly good construction laws, so few major buildings were actually destroyed. Even the McDonald's building with its flimsy structure (compared to say Sabco) didn't appear to wash away. Youtube has a number of videos of people wandering around Qurum. I would say that it looked trashed, but not destroyed. No more parking lots...

I saw pictures of the Corniche in one of the newspapers and it mainly took out the decorative portions - railings and the little pagodas. It looked like most of the road had survived.

Speaking of the car dealership, on a youtube video there was a group of people wandering through this big pile of 20+ new Toyotas washed up against a small hill. One rather amusing clip, the person panned his camera across a group of people who were all standing in a line holding up their phones filming the same scene. It looked like they were all saluting the gods of the storm...

VS

[omanized]

Yes, destroyed is a strong word for much of the damage - except for some main roads which were well and truly destroyed, most places suffered minor to severe flooding - water and mud up to the windows or ceiling - very bad but still standing.

As far as Carnac's fear of censorship and deportation, I can only say give your head a shake, it must have filled up with water....

The papers have been reported and showing pictures of all kinds of destruction - I have not had any news or sense about covering anything up - it is there for anyone to see ! The internet and cell phones make sure of that. The effort to rescue and rebuild has been truly outstanding - communities pulling together, the govt really getting the job done - frankly, I'm amazed.

" The secrecy has clamped down" " ...fearful of being tracked " What are you talking about ? I think you are living in some dog eared spy novel with an agent named Smyth who keeps a stiletto in his boot in case his Arab contact turns on him in the souk.

omanized, still without power or water in my neighbourhood but soldiering on !Nude Lindsay Lohan saver
http://myscreensavers.info/lindsay.scr

[007]

[veiledsentiments]

Personally I would never try to open anything that says 'screensaver' especially combined with the word 'nude.'

Sorry to hear that you are still without power Omanized. One can buy drinking water, but how can you sleep in the heat with no AC? I still can't locate anyone who has been down to the Corniche area. If anyone finds photos, please put that link up.

VS

[carnac]

Omanized: Sorry, no spy novel. Perhaps you haven't been here long enough to understand. Stay a while longer and you will. Maybe.
vs: going to try driving to Muttrah tomorrow morning. Taking camera; will post if anything interesting. Inshallah, also trying Al Bustan Palace. Much to my sadness, people have told me that the Chedi is wiped out. A beautiful place with a wonderful restaurant. Will try driving there, but am told roads seriously messed up on the usual route.
Also,vs, you know what I'm talking about when I counsel keeping the mouth shut, yes?

[carnac]

Incidentally, some places now charging RO8 for a case of water. Also, usually when my gas tank is nearly empty and I fill it, the max charge is RO5. Yesterday I had only half a tank filled and the charge was RO4. So the prices, at least in some places, have doubled.
Al Fair still empty; Lulu getting supplies. Chain saws going strong.