Impact of Cyclone Phet in Oman
During the hiatus between my previous and this post, newsbriefsoman actually disappeared from the web while the webhosts were sorting out their servers and accounting procedures. Thankfully, it has been restored.
I admit to not having had my eye on the ball, being more concerned with investing in property in Morocco at the time. There are interesting comparisons between tourism development in Oman and Morocco, but examination of that will have to wait until a later date.
While newsbriefsoman was absent, Oman Observer updated its web presence and joined Web 2.0. It now publishes via a content management system which enables it to archive stories with unique urls. You can download story feeds in an RSS reader. The format appears tidy and structured.
Also see daily reminders of stories from both Oman Observer and Times of Oman at newsBriefsOman on WebPartner.
The other major event was Cyclone Phet. Phet hit the eastern seaboard of Oman almost exactly three years to the day since Cyclone Gonu struck the country. Gonu was the strongest known tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea. It headed directly northwestwards past Muscat and eventually crossed Iran. See storm track on wikipedia.
Cyclone Phet threatened to be almost as powerful, but changed track and veered northeastwards towards Pakistan after reaching the eastern Omani coast. It didn't hit Muscat directly.
The authorities were better prepared than they had been and the Royal Oman Police evacuated the island of Masirah which lay in the storm's path.
Oil exports were halted at Mina Fahal, the terminal near Muscat, and gas production at Oman LNG closed down for a couple of days. No damage was reported, publicly, at these installations.
The DG for the Interior region in the Ministry of Agriculture asserted that damage to Oman's date crop in the interior was not as bad as was the case in 2007.
Local media seemed to lose interest quickly, possibly because Muscat, the biggest centre of population, did not suffer anywhere like as much damage as it had during Cyclone Gonu. Muscat may have been sheltered to some extent by the mountains of Al Hajar behind it. Towns and villages on the southern side, such as Amerat and Quriyat, were very badly affected. Quriyat had been laid waste only three years before by Cyclone Gonu.
Electricity and water supplies were restored swiftly to the most populated areas of Muscat and Amerat, but not Quriyat.
Although Phet was downgraded to Tropical Storm status, it devastated eastern Sharqiyah while it still had cyclonic force. See Phet's storm track on wikipedia.
Over 20 people were reported as having died, one of whom was a member of the Civil Defence Force of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) who ventured into a wadi to try and save a family trapped in the floodwaters.
Oman's most notable charity, Dar al Atta'a or The House of Giving, moved into action swiftly, sending supplies and volunteers into the area south of Muscat. A spokesperson commented that it was imperative that a disaster management body be formed to cope with the impact of cyclones since the country's coastal regions could be regularly affected.
This appears to have happened by direction of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said, who personally ordered the creation of a National Crisis Management Committee following Phet, and the restructuring of the national plan for crisis management.
Very little news of the impact of the devastation emerged in the official English-language media. A report in the Times of Oman related just one case study from a village in Amerat where the interviewee had lost his house and all his possessions. All official help he had received in three weeks were two bags of rice and water from the Armed Forces.
Abu Dhabi's The National, published businessmen's response to their losses on 7th June.
Here and there on the web are intimations of personal tragedies. One tweeter said that her family's farm had been destroyed. Another tweeter posted a photo of supply-laden trucks funded by BankMuscat bound for Quriyat.
Mr Sythe, on Muscat Mutterings, showed photos of houses levelled by the storm at Yiti, a village just around the corner from Muscat. The 'road,' had virtually disappeared.
A YouTube channel displays videos of the flooding in Jaalan Bani Bu Ali, Al Kamil, Al Wafi in the eastern part of Al Sharqiyah region, rather further away from the capital. The storm closed down 680 units in the Jaalan Bani Bu Ali industrial area.
Reports reaching me via personal messages reveal that it took the government a week to supply drinking water to the area, and that camels, goats and date palm plantation had been wiped out or flattened. It's estimated that it will take at least six months to return to normal.
Total damage caused by Phet in Oman has been estimated as ranging between US$780m and US$900. No official statement of the cost of damage seems to have been quoted
Anticipated insurance payouts on damage caused by the cyclone have been estimated at US$200 million.
Meanwhile, Her Highness Sayyida Rawan bint Ahmed al Said has been appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Directors of National Bank of Oman (NBO), a post that she appears to have re-assumed after originally being appointed as the SGRF representative in April 2005. The role complements her portfolio of financial appointments. Ms Al-Said is named as a senior manager of Oman's 'Bulgarian Acquisition,' which has 'expressed interest in investing in an €4bn nuclear power plant in Bulgaria and a €700m trans-Balkan oil pipeline from Bulgaria’s Burgas to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.'
I admit to not having had my eye on the ball, being more concerned with investing in property in Morocco at the time. There are interesting comparisons between tourism development in Oman and Morocco, but examination of that will have to wait until a later date.
While newsbriefsoman was absent, Oman Observer updated its web presence and joined Web 2.0. It now publishes via a content management system which enables it to archive stories with unique urls. You can download story feeds in an RSS reader. The format appears tidy and structured.
Also see daily reminders of stories from both Oman Observer and Times of Oman at newsBriefsOman on WebPartner.
The other major event was Cyclone Phet. Phet hit the eastern seaboard of Oman almost exactly three years to the day since Cyclone Gonu struck the country. Gonu was the strongest known tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea. It headed directly northwestwards past Muscat and eventually crossed Iran. See storm track on wikipedia.
Cyclone Phet threatened to be almost as powerful, but changed track and veered northeastwards towards Pakistan after reaching the eastern Omani coast. It didn't hit Muscat directly.
The authorities were better prepared than they had been and the Royal Oman Police evacuated the island of Masirah which lay in the storm's path.
Oil exports were halted at Mina Fahal, the terminal near Muscat, and gas production at Oman LNG closed down for a couple of days. No damage was reported, publicly, at these installations.
The DG for the Interior region in the Ministry of Agriculture asserted that damage to Oman's date crop in the interior was not as bad as was the case in 2007.
Local media seemed to lose interest quickly, possibly because Muscat, the biggest centre of population, did not suffer anywhere like as much damage as it had during Cyclone Gonu. Muscat may have been sheltered to some extent by the mountains of Al Hajar behind it. Towns and villages on the southern side, such as Amerat and Quriyat, were very badly affected. Quriyat had been laid waste only three years before by Cyclone Gonu.
Electricity and water supplies were restored swiftly to the most populated areas of Muscat and Amerat, but not Quriyat.
Although Phet was downgraded to Tropical Storm status, it devastated eastern Sharqiyah while it still had cyclonic force. See Phet's storm track on wikipedia.
Over 20 people were reported as having died, one of whom was a member of the Civil Defence Force of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) who ventured into a wadi to try and save a family trapped in the floodwaters.
Oman's most notable charity, Dar al Atta'a or The House of Giving, moved into action swiftly, sending supplies and volunteers into the area south of Muscat. A spokesperson commented that it was imperative that a disaster management body be formed to cope with the impact of cyclones since the country's coastal regions could be regularly affected.
This appears to have happened by direction of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said, who personally ordered the creation of a National Crisis Management Committee following Phet, and the restructuring of the national plan for crisis management.
Very little news of the impact of the devastation emerged in the official English-language media. A report in the Times of Oman related just one case study from a village in Amerat where the interviewee had lost his house and all his possessions. All official help he had received in three weeks were two bags of rice and water from the Armed Forces.
Abu Dhabi's The National, published businessmen's response to their losses on 7th June.
Here and there on the web are intimations of personal tragedies. One tweeter said that her family's farm had been destroyed. Another tweeter posted a photo of supply-laden trucks funded by BankMuscat bound for Quriyat.
Mr Sythe, on Muscat Mutterings, showed photos of houses levelled by the storm at Yiti, a village just around the corner from Muscat. The 'road,' had virtually disappeared.
A YouTube channel displays videos of the flooding in Jaalan Bani Bu Ali, Al Kamil, Al Wafi in the eastern part of Al Sharqiyah region, rather further away from the capital. The storm closed down 680 units in the Jaalan Bani Bu Ali industrial area.
Reports reaching me via personal messages reveal that it took the government a week to supply drinking water to the area, and that camels, goats and date palm plantation had been wiped out or flattened. It's estimated that it will take at least six months to return to normal.
Total damage caused by Phet in Oman has been estimated as ranging between US$780m and US$900. No official statement of the cost of damage seems to have been quoted
Anticipated insurance payouts on damage caused by the cyclone have been estimated at US$200 million.
Meanwhile, Her Highness Sayyida Rawan bint Ahmed al Said has been appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Directors of National Bank of Oman (NBO), a post that she appears to have re-assumed after originally being appointed as the SGRF representative in April 2005. The role complements her portfolio of financial appointments. Ms Al-Said is named as a senior manager of Oman's 'Bulgarian Acquisition,' which has 'expressed interest in investing in an €4bn nuclear power plant in Bulgaria and a €700m trans-Balkan oil pipeline from Bulgaria’s Burgas to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.'
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