Dubai: Four Omani families have found shelter with relatives in Dubai after being forced to flee the crisis that has gripped Muscat after Cyclone Gonu struck the region last week.
Riyadh Moosa, a petroleum engineer, his wife Sana and two children, Haitham, 5, and Mariam, 2, left Muscat on Friday to head approximately 500 kilometres west to Dubai in a journey that took them more than nine hours.
"Six families were living in one house without water and since more bad weather was expected we decided to leave temporarily before it was too late," said Moosa.
Long way home
Moosa told Gulf News it would be "many weeks" before he could move back into his house, which is now filled with a thick pile of mud. "My wife and I saw both our cars slowly drift away as we watched the water level rise to the second level of our house."
He later found his car lying in a neighbour's backyard, and identified what he believes is Sana's car further from the house. "The car was upside down," Moosa said.
The flash floods that caused the damage, said Moosa, were the result of the collapse of a nearby dam. It was so sudden, he said, that the water level in the street rose from ankle level to below the chest in "half an hour to 45 minutes". "The area around our house looks like a war zone now."
"I was scared for my children as the water was rising. I took the family and the maids to the second level and we waited there and called for help," he said, adding that jamming of mobile lines made it difficult to make phone calls.
Eventually, when the water had subsided significantly, a friend managed to drive close to the house and take the family to safety. "It was hard to find our house because none of the streets were recognisable any more," said Moosa. The family went to Sana's parents' house where they lived with five other families until leaving for Dubai.
"We need to get back to work, especially us in the oil industry. This is the lifeline of our economy," Moosa said.
