Watch: Heavy rains lash Oman, causing flash floods
Normal life, traffic thrown out of gear in some areas
Muscat: Heavy rains lashed the northern parts of Oman on Sunday, disrupting normal life and throwing traffic out of gear in some areas. Temperatures were lower across much of the country.
Parts of Dhahira, Dhakliyah and South of Sharqiyah and Buraimi governorates received medium to heavy rains, due the heavy rain, according to the Meteorology Department at the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA).
Wadis in the provinces of Ibri, Yanqul, Dhank, Mahada, Buraimi, Bahla, Nizwa, Samayil, Mudhaibi, Dima wa Tayeen, Awabim and Izki were flooded. No causalities have been reported, an official at the PACA told Gulf News.
Long queues of vehicles were reported stuck for hours, as the motorists were waiting for the water level to go down in wadi Bani Ghafar of Rustaq province on Sunday. Videos of the over-flooding wadis have been widely circulated in social media platforms.
Northern parts of Oman, including Dhakliyah, Dahira, South Sharqiyah, North Batinah, Wusta, Dhofar and Muscat governorates, were expected to receive medium to heavy rains until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Higher Education has announced the suspension of in-person classes and a shift to remote learning in the governorates of South Al Batinah and Al Dakhiliyah, effective the evening of September 29.
The decision was made due to the likelihood of heavy rains and flash floods across the region.
Earlier, authorities urged residents to stay away from low-lying areas, as well as overflowing wadis.
Latest satellite images and weather charts showed that the depression was likely to continue over Oman until Tuesday leading to thundershowers and hailstorm.
The forecast said most parts of the country would be hit by medium to heavy rains.
Rainfall in 2007 due to Cyclone Gonu claimed 49 lives, which was followed by Cyclone Phet in 2010 that claimed 24 lives, Cyclone Mekunu that ravaged the southern parts of Oman in 2018, left seven people dead and Shaheen which claimed more than 15 lives in 2022.
Shaheen made landfall on October 2,2022, with winds reaching up to 150 kph. The storm quickly lost power and was downgraded, but it caused flooding, landslides and damage across Oman, a country on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.