"Saudi Arabia has not been affected by Cyclone Phet — rated 3.5 on a scale of one to five. Cyclones normally affect land located close to oceans, which is not the case with Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is situated away from large masses of open water," said Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman for the Saudi Presidency of Meteorology and Environment. "The effect of a cyclone diminishes as it reaches land," he added.
The cyclone was moving northwestwardly at a speed of eight km an hour. Winds were blowing at a 180 km an hour. Hotels along the east coast of the sultanate have been evacuated, the Ministry of Tourism said, and the residents of Masirah island were airlifted to safer areas. The eye of Phet was still around 150 km away from Masirah. The capital Muscat further north could be affected by Saturday, authorities said.
But Muscat airport was still open with no intention to suspend flights, Transport Minister Salem Al-Nuaimi said. Phet was expected to veer toward the Indian and Pakistani coasts, sparing Oman a devastating impact similar to that of Cyclone Gonu.
Meanwhile, Pakistan sent speedboats to warn fishing fleets on Friday of the approaching cyclone and said it has prepared emergency shelters. Neighboring India warned that Phet would cause heavy rains and gale-force winds along parts of its western coast.
Phet was centered in the Arabian Sea, 1,060 km southwest of the Kutch area of Gujarat state, the India Meteorological Department said. The storm was forecast to gain strength on Friday and move closer to Oman before returning to Pakistan's southwestern coast, where it is expected on Sunday. In Karachi, the Maritime Security Agency dispatched speedboats to several dozen fishing boats that were at sea and oblivious of the warnings, spokesman Shakil Ahmed said.
Senior relief officer Munir Ahmed Memon said some 250,000 people in the districts of Thatta and Badin could be affected. He said hundreds of schools had been converted into relief camps.
— With input from agencies
