Gonu Cyclone

'Gonu cyclone is to hit Oman in 30 hours' was what we heard from the news on the 4th of June. The media was updating us regularly on the progress of the cyclone and ways to stay safe. At first we thought it would pass without any damages, hence life continued as it usually did in Nizwa. All it took to get us alarmed was the actual cyclone hitting Muscat, Sur, the Island of Musaiyra and a few other cities. They officially announced four days off. Exams were delayed for students. It hit on Thursday, Nizwa only witnessed a light rain in the morning while other coastal cities suffered from heavy rain storms and angry sea waves.

Only land lines were working, electricity went off for some time but these outcomes are now fixed, only running water is still a problem since till this moment some areas suffer from lack of water.

7000 people were evacuated immediately, they were given shelters in safe schools and were forced for the heat of the situation to leave their houses not knowing if they were ever to come back. The Sultan's armed forces spread along the coast. They created special hot-lines for people to call if they needed anything. As I have mentioned before the media's role in all of this was extremely vital, they answered calls from concerned citizen. Oman's national broadcasting channel aired all day long a show to update people on the cyclone, and so they were receiving complaints from people. Many called to assure us that people were safe, I remember listening to a call from a person whose house collapsed, a person who was trapped in his house with his children. Roads were filled with water. Cars were buried somewhere down or drown in water. Bridges collapsed. But most importantly 49 people died and some are still missing. Nothing can be compared to the loss of a living soul.

Nevertheless it was only obvious that the damages could have been much worse if it wasn't for the collaboration between people, media and the official authorities. Oman refused the offers that it received by many countries to help, and said that they would accept the help if they needed it. At first I thought that it wasn't such a smart move, but looking at how they handled the situation I think they had all the right to make such a statement.

After the cyclone left Oman, people started volunteering to gather food supplies, water, and so on for those who were left homeless. Buses from all over Oman carried all of this to the damaged cities.This cyclone left severe damages that were only noticed as the cyclone ended. Also mobile companies donated thousands of mobiles, recharged for their users.

It has changed lives of many people, ended some of those lives, made some lives grateful for still being alive.It might have made some souls leave this earth but it certainly brought those who are still alive together to control the damages.

Noor Said Al-Zubaidy
15 years
Oman