By Gautam Viswanathan
Muscat: Ten years on from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gonu, Oman is much better prepared for such a large-scale disaster, according to experts at Sultan Qaboos University.
Gonu, which remains Oman’s largest environmental disaster, struck the nation on June 6, 2007, and resulted in the deaths of 49 people, causing some OMR 1.6 billion in damages, as it tore through the country, destroying roads and disrupting power and water supplies to large parts of the country, in addition to extensive flooding of low-lying areas.
“The government has built weather stations which can tell you a lot of information that was not available before,” said Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi, Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at SQU. “Some of these stations can tell you when a flood will hit, what the estimated areas of damage will be, etc. They transmit this via satellites, and there is now a very good airlifting system involving the ROP, Ministry of Defence and PACDA.” “They’ve also built roads, so that they go through the mountain instead of through the wadi, to avoid flooding, and they have also reserved places to build shelters for emergency evacuation, with readymade access to power and water, so that camps and tents can be built very quickly,” he added. The three agencies are part of Oman’s National Disaster Committee, which has been set up to prepare for natural disasters, such as Gonu.
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