Thousands evacuated after Oman cyclone warning

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

MUSCAT (AFP) — Oman has evacuated 7,000 people from coastal areas amid warnings that a cyclone packing winds of up to 176 kilometres per hour (109 miles per hour) is headed for the Gulf sultanate, police said Monday.

Residents of the island of Masirah in the Arabian Sea as well as of Oman's eastern coastline have sought refuge on higher ground after meteorologists warned that the storm was expected to make landfall in the next 30 hours, Inspector General of Police and Customs Malik al-Maamari said.

The cyclone originated in the Arabian Sea and is moving at a rate of seven to 10 kilometres per hour (around six miles per hour), Maamari told a news conference in the capital Muscat.

He said the storm was expected to be accompanied by high waves as well as heavy rains.

© 2007 AFP