Cyclone Mekunu brought what is probably Dhofar’s most intense rainfall ever, which in turn brought some deaths (6 reported and perhaps a few more will be found), caused destroyed roads and spectacular waterfalls.
The effect can be seen by the closure announcment, by the National Committee for Civil Defense, of major road links – shown in a diagram issued after Cyclone Mekunu. As the diagram has not, so far, been issued in English I have annotated the Arabic original.
I updated the original road closures Map to show the situation as on 3oth May (right) – with traffic able to flow to all areas on Map.
In the mountains Tayq Cave Sinkhole filled (see my earlier post). The waterfalls of Wadi Darbat were, for perhaps the first time in centuries, a completer fall – totalling a kilometer’s width of cascading water.
Extraordinary 😯#Mekunu #ميكونو #Salalah #صلالة🇴🇲
شلالات وادي دربات
Entire width of Wadi Darbat Waterfalls is flooded – 2 sections = total combined about 1km width (excluding small hill) . Greater than horseshoe of Niagra Falls from @alkaiser_omanpic.twitter.com/McZflr2E52— TonyWalsh🌞توني والش (@TonyWalsh_me) May 26, 2018
My rewrite of the Bradt Guide to Oman is available in eBook here and paperback through Amazon worldwide here.
To the west the road at Mughsayl was cut, this means that a large number of villages (Rakhyut, Dalkut, Sarfayt) on the west of the road, which is their only tarmacked land route, are isolated and the Oman-Yemen road, which this is part of, is also closed.
If you will be visiting Dhofar, the roads will be open relatively quickly, days in the case of Mughsayl as remedial work is underway, (this probably will re-route the road to cross in a narrow part of the wadi away from the beach) and though not reported I imagine work will also be required in sections of this road farther west towards Yemen. As soon as the flooding north of Thumrayt disappears the road will open (after cleaning) as the road itself is not damaged.
Behind Salalah the protective dams held and saved the town from catastrophy.
Wadi Garziz Dam
سد وادي جرزيز
which protected much of#Salalah #صلالة🇴🇲
from flooding during
during #Mekunu #ميكونو
via @Caynawi123 pic.twitter.com/XMpoEBbwUh— TonyWalsh🌞توني والش (@TonyWalsh_me) May 28, 2018
While to the north of the city of Salalah, the main Thumrayt-Nizwa road is under water as the great Rub Al Khali becomes an inland sea.
The new Inland Sea called the
Bahr Rub’ al Khali (Empty Quarter Sea) 🌊
بحر رب الخالي
on the Thumrait-Nizwa Road #Salalah #صلالة🇴🇲
during #Mekunu #ميكونو
by Hamed al Shukaili pic.twitter.com/cZnuYZ5qPL— TonyWalsh🌞توني والش (@TonyWalsh_me) May 27, 2018
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