Rare cyclone slams into Yemen, bringing several years’ worth of rain
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Version 0 of 1. BEIRUT — Heavy flooding from a rare tropical cyclone inundated parts of southern Yemen on Tuesday, bringing what aid workers and residents fear will be yet more misery to a country already mired in war and humanitarian crisis. Scores of images posted on social media show what appears to be the coastal city of Mukalla overwhelmed with floodwaters that ripped past buildings, submerged vehicles and raised fears of casualties and worsening shortages of food, water and medical supplies. [Extreme flooding hits Yemen after Cyclone Chapala] The powerful storm, named Chapala, was downgraded to a Category 1 cyclone by the time it slammed into Yemen’s southeastern coastline early Tuesday. But meteorologists say the torrential downpours associated with the storm will bring several years’ worth of rain in a day or two to the usually parched Arabian Peninsula country. Although the images suggest that destruction from the flooding could be vast, there were no immediate reports of deaths Tuesday in what has been described as the first hurricane-force storm to strike the country since record-keeping started. Aid workers expressed concern about mudslides and acute shortages of food and drinking water in affected areas of the desperately poor nation — which has little or no capacity to handle such events. Chapala arrived amid warnings from the United Nations that months of conflict could trigger famine for many of Yemen’s 25 million citizens. “We anticipate flash floods from heavy rains, and it may displace more people in the country,” said Sitara Jabeen, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross. [In a wild El Nino year, another rare extreme] Shortages of food, fuel and medicine throughout Yemen have reached alarming levels in the past several months because of fighting and what aid organizations describe as a virtual blockade imposed by a coalition of mostly Arab countries led by neighboring Saudi Arabia. In March, the coalition launched a war against Yemeni rebels known as Houthis. Since then, about 5,400 people have been killed in the fighting, which also has displaced more than a million Yemenis. “The whole country is already in dire need of medicine and medical supplies,” said Hassan Boucenine, who heads Yemen operations for Doctors Without Borders. “We are very concerned.” Meteorologists expect the storm’s effects to be most intense in Hadramout and nearby provinces in Yemen’s southeast. In Mukalla, capital of Hadramout province, video and images posted on Twitter and Facebook purported to show epic levels of flooding caused by the storm. In one video, men try to escape streets that have turned into rivers by climbing atop vehicles. In an interview with BBC Radio on Tuesday morning, a resident of Mukalla described a desperate attempt to relocate to safety a group of people who were taking shelter at a medical facility. The resident, identified as Salem, said that residents of the city of more than 100,000 did not have access to drinking water or electricity. [Cyclone Chapala among strongest storms on record in Arabian Sea] “Every hour it gets worse,” he said. On Monday, Chapala killed at least one person and destroyed dozens of homes on the Yemeni island of Socotra, known for its rugged beauty and unique species of plants. Since March, Mukalla and surrounding areas have come under the control of Yemen’s powerful al-Qaeda branch. Last week, Chapala reached Category 4 intensity, generating winds of 155 mph and more energy than any tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea. Scientists have attributed the strength of the cyclone — storms known as hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere — to unusually warm ocean waters in the area. Read more: In parts of Yemen, rebels have lost control. No one else has it yet. Quietly, al-Qaeda offshoots expand in Yemen and Syria Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world |