MUSCAT // Four people were killed and more than 200 left homeless on Tuesday after flash floods triggered by torrential rain washed away buildings across Oman on Tuesday.
The worst affected area was the Batnah region in the north where most of the properties were destroyed by swollen wadis.
Civil defence officers launched an emergency operation to evacuate people living on the edge of the wadis, some of them labourers from construction sites. The rescue teams used inflatable boats to reach people stranded in flooded areas.
"The latest count is that four died, two are foreign labourers and two are Omanis," a civil defence officer told The National. "Over 200 people, including construction workers, have their homes destroyed."
He said the labourers died in Suwaiq when they were swept by the strong water currents, while the Omanis were killed in the nearby town of Musanah after their car skidded and overturned.
About 70 people had been taken to hospitals and those who lost their homes were being accommodated in temporary shelters, he added.
Residents living near the flooded areas said they heard the helicopters in early in the morning as civil defence officers air-lifted people trapped in the water.
“There were screams everywhere as these people tried to attract attention. Some of them were standing on top of their roofs, some on top of their cars. Any high spot just to be out of the water,” said Ahmed Al Zaabi, a resident in Barka, in the Batnah region.
The civil defence also said the health department was distributing medicine to prevent as outbreak of waterborne diseases. The unstable weather also ravaged parts of the remote areas in the Wahiba Sands, a stretch of desert popular with tourists. Tour guides were warned to stop taking visitors to the region this week.
Weather forecasters predicted that the heavy downpours would continue until Sunday.
The state meteorological office recorded more rainfall in the last two days than the average rainfall in the month of January.
Oman regularly experiences flash floods at this time of the year when wadis rapidly fill with water during heavy rain to devastating effect.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
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18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)