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Oman: search continues for person missing in severe flooding 

July 22, 2021 at 4:17 pm

A picture taken on October 14, 2018, shows flooded streets in the Adonab valley near Salalah, in the Southern Omani province of Dhofar, during the tropical storm Luban [MOHAMMED MAHJOUB/AFP via Getty Images]

Oman’s Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) is expanding its search for a fourth person missing as the sultanate experiences flash floods caused by heavy rain, the Times of Oman has reported.

The CDAA, supported by the Special Mission Police in South Sharqiyah governorate, said that it has expanded the scope of search operations, to include the valley stream beyond the protection dam in the Wilayat of Sur.

Of the four people reported missing since Saturday, one woman was found dead on Tuesday. The Times of Oman said that rescue teams had recovered the bodies of two other missing persons beforehand.

Oman’s Directorate of Meteorology today issued a weather alert for further heavy rain over several parts of the sultanate, including the governorates of Muscat, North and South Sharqiyah, Al Dakhiliyah, Al Dhahirah and North and South Batinah. The rain is expected to be “accompanied by active winds and hail”, with the flooding of valleys forecast.

The directorate warned on Friday that a “supercell” hailstorm was approaching the coasts of South Sharqiyah and Muscat governorates, which risked leading to an overflow of normally dry valleys.

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