Gonu: Fujairah Evacuates
Gonu: Fujairah Evacuates
Just one road to Fujairah is open and the eastern Emirate is evacuating hotel guests, as the UAE feels the rage of Cyclone Gonu.
The road to Masafi was the only one left open - the Kalba, Khor Fakkhan and Fujairah Corniche roads were all submerged and shut off.
The army was seen pulling bulldozers out of the water as high waves crashed onto the shore.
Amid concerns about waves hitting power lines, three Fujairah hotels confirmed evacuation plans to XPRESS:
- Le Meridien Al Aqah Hotel was moving guests to Ras Al Khaimah because Dubai hotels were booked.
- The Rotana Fujairah Hotel was shifting people living in chalets to their main building to avoid the rising water level.
- Jal Fujairah Resort and Spa confirmed it was evacuating guests but refused to say where they were being sheltered.
Tropical cyclone Gonu has weakened considerably but is still expected to be the strongest cyclone to hit the Arabian Peninsula since record-keeping began in 1945.
According to Abu Dhabi metreological department, Gonu is still packing huge winds.
But they have dropped from Tuesday's 260 kilometres per hour to between 110 - 120 kilometres per hour.
Forecasters said the storm would be heading on to southern Iran.
Gonu, which had reached the higest storm category, 5, has downgraded to a tropical storm and, by the time it hits Iran, should be just a tropical depression, according to Weather Underground.
Oman
- The Omani government declared holidays from Wednesday until Sunday.
- Thousands of people fled low-lying areas to avoid the cyclone.
- No deaths had been reported across Oman.
- Rains were expected to remain strong as the heaviest part of the storm came in towards Oman's capital, Muscat.
- Electricity was out in some parts of the city and many roads were closed.
- However, Omani officials said most of the country's oil fields, to the northwest of the capital, were still operating.
Iran
- Iranian authorities evacuated hundreds of people living in the port city of Chabahr on the coast of the Sea of Oman.
- Cyclone Gonu was expected to skirt the region's biggest oil installations.
- Oil prices rose to US$65.61 a barrel thanks to Gonu. Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said: "The latest on the storm indicates it will hit land in south-eastern Iran - which could possibly disrupt shipping through the Arabian Gulf, and that's caused some concern in the trading community."
Flights
- Emirates flights from Dubai to Muscat scheduled Wednesday from 10.45am to 8pm were cancelled, according to a spokesperson at the airline.
- Flights to the Omani capital scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport Wednesday at 8.45pm and 10.45pm for Muscat were still scheduled.
- Oman Air halted all air operations on Tuesday night until further notice, given the current emergency air conditions in the Sultanate of Oman, an official source at the airline said.
