Most of the Oman news haven't updated their websites, some say due to Gonu, others no explanation and I can't read the Arabic ones. Looks like lots of flooding, road damage, infrastructure damage, undetermined dead as of yet (reading 20-23).
Blogger with a collection of pictures of Oman, gathered from varied places into one place
http://amjad248.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-pictures.htmlhttp://amjad248.blogspot.com/2007/06/muscat-is-drowning.htmlAnother Omani blogger,
http://sleeplessinmuscat.blogspot.com/ says this (along with a short video of a muddy car, torrential rains are a rarity):
There has been news about the Royal Oman Police encatering some 20,000 inhabitants from various areas over the Sultanate whilst there has a been a report of a death of 12 people of which until now, their nationalities are still unknown. It seems that they were too close to the beach and the waves engulfed them with it.
There has been a lot of damage all over the Muscat capital whereby trees and large plants were uprouted from their roots. The Shatti Al Qurum 'love road' has been demolished due to the heavy rains and a part of the Qurum-Darsait bridge has fallen down onto the lower road beneath it.
The entire Qurum, Madinat Qaboos areas are full flooded with mud, floods and piles of stones scattered all over the road from Madinat Qaboos towards the Qurm roundabout. The Qurum roundabout is a total mess as it is flooded and only large vehicles can seem to get through.
Telecommunications seem to be coming back to some parts of the Sharqiyah region such as Jaalan bani bu Ali. There has still been no reports about Sur but as they say 'No news is good news'. Hopefully all the residents are alive and kicking.
The amount of the water that had fallen down on Muscat has been the most that the capital had ever seen in decades with the latest record being 1981.
For further information and updates about the ongoing situation in parts of Muscat, please refer to Amjad's Blog in these posts: here & here.
I would like to take this opportunity to address anyone outside the Sultanate of Oman to please come forward if you have any expertise in the rescue or machinery field to lend a helping hand. As it is, there are still a lot of places in Oman that need to tended to and although the authorities think they are in control, the truth is quite the oppisite. Oman TV has asked anyone from inside the Sultanate with any sort of machinery or such large vehicles that could assist in the rescue operations to restore power, telecommunications and provide foodstuff to the people of Oman to come forward.
We need all the help we can get..
(bit more)
http://www.kgan.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/3e62a11d-www.kgan.com.shtmlAt least 23 deaths blamed on Cyclone Gonu
June 07, 2007 12:20 EDT
MUSCAT, Oman (AP) -- At least 23 deaths are now being blamed on Cyclone Gonu , which has weakened to tropical storm strength as it continues on its path toward southeastern Iran.
Police in Oman say at least 20 deaths are being blamed on the storm there and 24 more people have been reported missing. Rescue teams have been searching for those people in helicopters and boats.
In Iran, state television is reporting that one person was killed yesterday in a car accident because of low visibility from the storm. Two government workers bringing emergency supplies to a flooded area were also killed when a river overflowed and flipped their truck.
Forecasters predict the storm will make landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast later today.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,21870141-5005361,00.html
Oman cyclone death toll at 20
THE number of people killed by Cyclone Gonu in the Gulf state of Oman has risen from 12 to 20, a police source said today.
The source said that half of the victims drowned in flooding caused by torrential rain, without giving further details.
Gonu, the most violent tropical storm to hit the Gulf in three decades, lashed the sultanate on Wednesday as thousands of people were evacuated in both Oman and neighbouring Iran.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10130676.htmlGonu floods Iranian villages
Dubai: Floods triggered by the cyclone Gonu have engulfed rural areas in Konarak city in southern Iran, inundated over 70 percent of villages in the region and cut road links, according to a report on the Iranian PressTV website.The cyclone that knocked out power and telephone lines in some areas affected the southeast Kerman province as well, according to the Kerman Meteorology Department.
Early on Wednesday evening strong winds snapped tree branches, thunder storm lashed, and torrential rain poured over Iran's farthest southeastern coast city of Chabahar, revealed a report on Iran's IRNA website. The city residents, and particularly primary and high schools students, too, were evacuated about two hours in advance.
All flights from Konarak Port International Air Port were cancelled for 48 hours due to unfavorable weather conditions, including one scheduled for Mashhad, one for Tehran, and one for Bandar Abbas, the report said.
Cyclone Gonu lashed Bandar Abbas port city and various parts of Hormozgan Province at around 17.45 pm Wednesday night with strong winds measured at 200 kilometers per hour, braking strong trees, cutting off electricity, and causing fires in some city locations....(bit more)
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Oman/10130678.htmlExpat's body fished out from wadi
Muscat: An Indian expatriate worker's body was fished out from flooded wadi on Thursday morning by the Civil Defence personnel even as the Royal Oman Police (ROP) officially confirmed 12 dead due to killer cyclone Gonu.
On Wednesday when Gonu was causing killer devastation across east and north of Oman, around 40 workers were stranded on a rooftop of a building in Wadi Adei area with water surging all around them. The roof collapsed even as darkness descended early in the evening. "We are not sure how many went in the water and how many hung on but ten went unaccounted," Vikraman Panicker, who was also stuck on the roof, told Gulf News. He and his co-workers were sitting by the roadside even as the Civil Defence personnel were fishing out one of their friend's body from the waters.
A relief official said 12 people had been confirmed killed by the storm which turned the streets of the capital Muscat into rivers, upturning cars and severing electricity and phone lines.
In Iran, three people have been killed in Bandar E Jask when an overflowing river caused their vehicle to overturn.
Finally, amid another article about the damage is this bit about oil and shipping
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Oman/10130666.html...Relief efforts were still underway as the weather calmed but one shipper in Oman said Mina Al Fahal, the only terminal for the country's 650,000 barrels per day crude exports, remained closed for a third day and the main liquefied natural gas terminal at Sur was unlikely to be operating either.
"Mina Al Fahal is still closed until further notice and they will not give us any more information. They are currently trying to assess the damage at Port Qaboos," the shipper told Reuters, referring to a main cargo port.
"We have not been able to get in touch (with the LNG terminal) but apparently that area was badly hit so it is unlikely to open now."
Further north, the United Arab Emirates' port of Fujairah, one of the world's largest ship refuelling centres, reopened on Thursday morning after closing on Wednesday due to the weather. Port director Moussa Murad said the port facilities had sustained no damages from high waves caused by the storm....(more)
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