Watch: It isn’t often that heavy rains lead to floods in a desert
It rained as much in one day as it does in three years.
It’s not a sight you see every day – a desert flooded by heavy rains, causes by extreme weather. The video above shows the extreme flooding caused by Cyclone Mekunu, which hit parts of Yemen and Oman.
The storm dumped a massive amount of rain in Salalah city, as much as 278.2 mm in just one day. That’s actually three years’ worth of rain in the region.
The cyclone was described as “extremely severe”, and left behind a lot of destruction and many displaced families. It also cut off electricity supply, leaving lakhs of residents without power or water.
Before striking Oman, the storm hit Yemen, severely affecting Socotra island in the Arabian Sea, a UNESCO world heritage site.
Cyclone Mekunu has battered Socotra off the coast of Yemen and has made a bit of a mess of Salalah in southern Oman. Cat 3 downgraded in the last hour to Cat 1. pic.twitter.com/SoDZ9ZZv1Z
— @GeoBex (@Bex2018Geobex) May 26, 2018
Breaking: Tropical Cyclone Mekunu causes destructive winds and flooding to Oman. At 115 MPH winds, Mekunu is the strongest storm to ever hit the country. pic.twitter.com/XJPhVFmqUS
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) May 25, 2018
Urgent call to the Intle community to help the ppl in Socotra who are suffering from Cyclone Mekunu which pounded the island this morning, lashing it with heavy rain & strong winds,destroying roads https://t.co/5Ek3y9LPi4 urgently needed, Helicopters are the fastest to deliver it pic.twitter.com/uSkhsBkjAX
— معمر الإرياني (@ERYANIM) May 24, 2018