Dubai: Cyclone Kyarr may have weakened and turned away from the UAE but another storm called Maha is heading north in the Arabian Sea and could intensify to a cyclone by Friday morning.
A statement from the National Meteorology Centre (NCM) on Thursday said that Cyclone Kyarr had weakened into a tropical storm and was moving south westwards towards Oman and Yemen at a speed of 13-km/h with wind speeds of 80-90-km/h at its centre, accompanied by intense convective rain clouds.
However, while Kyarr weakens to a tropical depression by Thursday night with wind speeds of 40-50-km/h, Maha, a tropical depression in the south east of the Arabian Sea moving northwards, is expected to intensify into a category one cyclone by Friday morning.
Maha is currently located in the middle of the Arabian Sea with wind speeds of 90-100-km/h and intense convective rain clouds at its centre.
Kyarr started off in the middle of the Arabian Sea this week as a category three cyclone, the biggest this region had faced since Cyclone Gonu in 2007.
Kyarr caused water surges and flooding on the UAE’s east coast this week, resulting in the death of an Egyptian hotel worker in Fujairah on Tuesday when he was swept out to sea while trying to prevent damage to the resort in Dibba Al Aqah.
Twenty families from Kalba also had to be moved to hotel apartments on Tuesday due to flooding, and schools and roads were also closed in the area as water breached the barricades. The beach at the Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort was also closed on Wednesday and is expected to reopen on Friday.
