Published: November 10,2015
As many as six people have been killed on
Yemen's Socotra Island by the effects of Cyclone Megh, the second
devastating tropical system to hit the island in a week.
Megh
made a direct hit as the equivalent of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane
Sunday. Though weakened, the storm could make landfall in mainland Yemen
on Tuesday.
The French Press Agency confirmed through
an official that six people have been killed on Socotra by Megh, and
three others are missing. Most of the deceased were killed in structure
collapses, the report added.
“Cyclone Megh is several
times worse than Chapala because it is passing directly over Socotra,”
Socotra environmental official Mohammed Alarqbi told Reuters.
People
who returned to their seafront homes, already destroyed by Chapala,
were forced to flee again, heading to government buildings or highlands
as heavy floods returned, according to World Meteorological Organization
spokeswoman Clare Nulls.
(MORE: Flooding Turns Deadly in the Southeast)
Destructive winds and flash flooding rain with mudslides in Socotra could caused by #Chalapa and #Megh in one week
Minister of Fisheries Fahd Kavieen
has urged the United Nations and neighboring Oman to “urgently intervene
with emergency teams” to help save residents on the island, Al Jazeera
reports.
“A storm of this strength is likely to cause
widespread destruction, and is easily capable of damaging homes and
snapping trees,” said Al Jazeera weather presenter Steff Gaulter. "The
damage caused by Megh is likely to be extensive, particularly for an
island which has been hit by a similar cyclone less than a week ago."
Back-to-back
cyclones such as Chapala and Megh affecting Socotra Island within the
span of a week is unprecedented in historical record. According to NOAA's historical hurricane tracks database, only once before on record have a pair of cyclones tracked within 200 nautical miles of Socotra Island within the same season.
At
least three people were killed and more than 300 others were injured on
Socotra after Chapala's landfall. The island suffered huge property
loss and an estimated 2,000 people have been displaced.
MORE: Cyclone Chapala
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