Rare cyclone makes landfall in war-torn Yemen

A cyclone with hurricane- force winds made landfall on Yemen’s Arabian Sea coast yesterday, flooding the country’s fifth largest city and sending thousands of people fleeing for shelter.

Officials and meteorologists say the storm is the most intense in decades in the arid country, whose storm response is hampered by poverty and a raging civil war.

In the provincial capital Mukalla, whose 300,000 people are largely ruled by al-Qaeda since the army left in April, water submerged cars on city streets and caused dozens of families to flee to a hospital for fear of rock slides.

Residents said the seafront promenade and many homes had been destroyed by the cyclone. Officials in the dry hinterland province of Shabwa said about 6,000 people had moved to higher ground.

“The wind knocked out power completely in the city and people were terrified,” said Sabri Saleem, who lives in Mukalla. “Some residents had to leave their homes and escape to higher areas where flooding was less; it was a difficult night but it passed off peacefully.”

There were no initial reports of injuries.– (Reuters)