Cyclone Shaheen hits Oman, three killed, flights delayed

DUBAI: Tropical Cyclone Shaheen hit land in Oman on Sunday having already killed least three people, its heavy rain and ferocious winds prompting evacuations from coastal areas and delaying flights to and from the capital, Muscat. As the storm approached, a child who had been swept away by water was found dead, the state news agency said, and another person was missing. Two Asian workers were killed when a hill collapsed on their housing area in an industrial zone, the state news agency reported. When its eye crossed land, the cyclone was carrying winds of between 120 and 150 km per hour (75-93 mph), Omani authorities said. It was throwing up waves of up to 10 metres (32 feet). Video footage from local broadcasters showed vehicles submerged as people tried to make their way through muddy brown floodwater. Part of the eyewall of the storm, where the most severe weather occurs, had entered Al Batinah South governorate, the state news agency said. The eye also entered between the states of Musanah and Suwaiq. Massive rainfall of as much as 500 cm (20 inches) was expected in some areas, potentially causing flash floods. The national emergency committee said the power supply would be cut in al-Qurm, east of the capital, to avoid accidents. More than 2,700 people were put up in emergency shelters. Most of the oil-exporting country's five million people live in and around Muscat. Roads in the capital would be open only to vehicles on emergency and humanitarian journeys until the storm dies down, authorities said. In the United Arab Emirates, authorities said precautionary measures were being taken. Police officials were moving to ensure safety by conducting security patrols near beaches and valleys where torrential rains were expected. Saudi Arabia's civil defence authorities called for caution in several regions from Monday to Friday in expectation of heavy winds and possible flooding, the state news agency reported. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli, Nadine Awadalla, Enas Alashray, Ahmed Elhamy and Nayera Abdallah Writing by Nadine Awadalla and Michael Georgy Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Philippa Fletcher, Catherine Evans and Frances Kerry)