Aden: Tropical cyclone Chapala has reached Yemen bringing hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and powerful waves.
The rare cyclone hit first the exotic Yemeni island of Socotra, killing three people and injuring scores more, and then headed toward a gas terminal and southern coastal city of Mukalla on the mainland.
The World Meteorological Organization initially rated the storm as "potentially very dangerous," but later on Monday downgraded it to "very severe" as sustained winds slowed marginally to 150-160 kmh.
Maps plotting the storm’s course after Socotra showed it making landfall on Tuesday morning at Balhaf, site of Yemen’s liquefied natural gas terminal, and weakening as it advanced toward the capital Sanaa in the country’s north.
The UN humanitarian office said it expected Chapala to be mostly felt in the southern coastal governorates of Shabwah and Hadhramaut, where 1.4 million of the 1.8 million population need humanitarian aid due to Yemen’s ongoing war.
The cyclone first hit Socotra, an island of rare natural beauty with a prehistoric feel hundreds of plant species found nowhere else on Earth 380 km off Yemen in the Arabian Sea. Its 50,000 residents speak their own language.
"Three people were killed, around 100 have been injured," said a local official.
Mohammed Alarqbi of the Socotra Environment Office said torrential rains had pounded impoverished coastal villages. "Around 1,500 families have fled to the interior and to the mountains. There’s absolutely no help coming from the outside."
In Mukalla, photos and videos posted online showed water pouring through the streets. The city is controlled by al-Qaeda and reports say it is ill-equipped to deal with a disaster.
The storm is forecast to make landfall just west of Mukalla between 00:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT on Tuesday, when gusts of up to 140 km/h (85mph) are expected.
Chapala is believed to be the most powerful storm that Yemen has seen in decades.
QNA
