Heavy rainfall has caused widespread flash flooding in parts of Oman where authorities report at least 12 people have died.
According to figures from Oman’s National Committee for Emergency Management, 90 mm of rain fell in Al Mudhaibi in the North Al Sharqiyah Governorate in a period from 14 to early 15 April. Figures from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) show 64 mm of rain fell at Marmul Airport in 24 hours to 15 April, while 59.2 mm fell in Qalhat, South Ash Sharqiyah Governorate.
Teams from Royal Oman Police (ROP) and Oman’s Civil Defence and Ambulance Department Authority (CDAA) were called on to carry out multiple high water rescues. Many of those rescued were in vehicles trapped or swept away by fast-flowing wadi waters.
The Royal Oman Police rescued around 35 people stranded in the Wilayat of Ibra. Around 21 people were rescued after a school bus was trapped in flood waters in the Wilayat of Nizwa.
CDAA teams rescued 1,200 people from a school surrounded by flood waters in the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi, North Al Sharqiyah Governorate. CDAA said all those rescued are in good health.
According to CDAA, at least 12 people have lost their lives in floods in Samad al Shan. A further five people were reported missing after being swept away by floods across areas of the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi. As of 15 April the body of one of the missing, believed to be a young child, was found.
