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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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