Oman cyclone downgraded

Muscat: Although Oman has raised the highest caution flag there are no fears of a cyclone hitting its coast, Lt. Colonel Azhar Al Kindy, a member of the National Committee for Civil Defence (NCCD), told Gulf News on Wednesday.

“It is only a deep depression over Arabian Sea and even rain forecast is of moderate intensity and not heavy'', he confirmed.

He appealed to the public not to panic and assured that the authorities were keeping a close vigil on the progress of the deep depression that was currently located about 750 km off the Dhofar coast in south of Oman and traveling at 18km per hour in the west-northwesterly direction (latitude 12.30 degrees N and longitude 60 degrees E).

“We advise people to stay away from sea and not risk crossing wadis where flooding could prove dangerous,'' he cautioned.

Lt. Col Al Kindy advised people not to panic and believe wild rumours. “Please follow official announcements on television and other media,'' he said.

“From our experience of Gonu we believe that people with Internet access weather forecasts but cannot read interpret the images properly. They then spread rumours and cause panic'', he said.

According to weather forecast on Tropical Storm Risk website, the intensity of the depression is expected to remain at nearly 35 knots over the next 24 hours due to the persistent moderate vertical wind shear.

Lt. Colonel Kindy also said that everything was normal in Salalah. A Salalah-based senior banker confirmed this. “Everything is normal here, there's no panic and no warnings issued so far'', Sunil Sharma, manager of Bank of Baroda in Salalah, which is located 1000-km south of Muscat, told Gulf News.

Fishermen have been warned and asked to stay away from the sea around Salalah.