Heavy rain throws normal life out of gear

Heavy rain lashed downtown Muscat and overflowing wadis and traffic snarls threw commercial activity and normal life out of gear yesterday.

Showers, accompanied by thunder, lashed the old Muscat, Muttrah and Ruwi areas for almost two hours early in the morning, but other areas in the south of the capital received only light to moderate rain.

"So far Muscat has received 2mm of rain and it is still raining in the Seeb area," a Met office spokesman said.

Muscat has experienced cold weather for the past month and the temperature is expected to remain around 20 degrees Celsius for the next few days.

The old Muttrah Souq, currently a major attraction for tourists because of the ongoing Muscat Festival, was flooded as water cascaded from the nearby mountains.

However, unlike in the past, no damage was reported to the business establishments. A few accidents due to speeding in the wet conditions were reported.

Office workers were caught unawares when the sudden rain lashed the capital in the morning.

The Muscat Municipality, however, seemed to be better prepared this time as floodwaters in most areas were cleared by late morning.

Traffic jams occurred in the Ruwi and Muttrah areas, forcing commuters to arrive late for work.

"It took me 30 minutes to cover the distance which I normally cover in less than 10 minutes in peak hour traffic," said Haider Jawad, a banker in the CBD area.