Storm Flood, Sand Storm affect Normal Life in the Gulf

4 keralites dead in Oman due to wadi flood Click for Pictures

MUSCAT/DUBAI -A strong warning is issued by companies and individuals about a possible storm in Oman. It is said that the storm is coming from the UAE where a sudden storm burst over the Emirates with high winds of up to 70 knots. According to Gulf News, swirls of sand blanketed highways and drastically reduced visibility to less than 00 metres. Some of the leading trading companies in Oman have warned the employees to keep their vehicles from the office because they expect a storm. Normal life in the Sultanate has been affected by continuous rainfall for the last two three days which caused at least 20 confirmed deaths and damage to vehicles and property. In Kuwait, light rain was reported in some places. Storm warning is passed on through SMS messages, telephone etc.

The gale winds which swept across the UAE for 90 minutes on Wednesday night caused massive sandstorms, uprooted many trees and lamp posts, and caused power outages in some villages. The winds reportedly moved from Al Ain to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and up to Ras Al Khaimah, before moving on to the Gulf of Hormuz, to Iran because of the low-pressure area above Iran. All flights which were scheduled to land in airports across the country during the storm were diverted because of the poor visibility. Of these, at least four Gulf Air flights arriving at Abu Dhabi International Airport were diverted to Al Seeb Airport in Oman. In suburban Samha, heavy rains with strong winds continued for almost an hour forming pools of water. Shacks were blown apart and power outages were reported in several areas between Shahama and Ghantout.
Two Omani children aged 13 and 14, who drowned at a pond formed by rainwater behind Al Harthy Complex, Muscat were plucked by men of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) on Wednesday. The children, residents of Wadi Adei, were swimming and they probably got stuck in the pool, said a ROP Public Relations Department official. The ROP also found four more bodies in the past two days in flooded wadis in Muscat Governorate and the Batinah region. The six deaths, which include one expatriate, raise to 20 the total number of fatalities caused by the recent rains.

Sunil Kumar, from Koduvalli in Kozhikode district of Kerala who was working for the Kairali restaurant in Ruwi died in Wadi flooding at Wattaya. Sunil was trapped in the vehicle, which was washed away in flash water flowing from the mountains. While the vehicle driver Suresh managed to escape from the accident, the body of Sunil Kumar was found by the ROP yesterday morning in an adjacent area.

Flooding of Wadis is a dangerous phenomenon as the rainwater accumulated in between mountains and hills flows out with great force, carrying along with it sludge and rocks that hit vehicles. The floodwater coming with great strength straight from the mountains can wash away even four wheel drives and trucks. As happened in Hamarat it affects the engines of even heavy vehicles and drivers lose control. Motorists are asked to avoid crossing wadis and low-lying areas unless they have checked the water level marks. It is also important to keep away from low-lying areas even if it is not raining, the ROP warned. The power supply in the capital region was affected as some of the electricity towers were temporarily failed.

A trailer driver singlehandedly plucked eight of 11 passengers, excluding the driver, to safety out of a flood-stricken taxi-van on Monday night as raging torrents thundered down the mountains, five kilometres from Lizook, a wadi-filled mountainous range after Bid Bid, on the way to Ibra, some of the survivors said

According to the Times of Oman, The 11 passengers, all of them construction workers, were heading to Ibra when the floods struck, around 9.30pm. Although the brave Egyptian managed to pull out eight of the passengers, four, including the Omani driver, was washed away in the flash floods. The Omani managed to survive, but three others - all Indians - have died. Two bodies that of Robinson, 45, from Thiruvananthapuram, and Miller from Venganoor, 25, have been found. Search is on to find the body of Francis, from Pallayade, Kanyakumari. Recounting the incident, four of the survivors, who had accompanied their sponsor to the Indian embassy to finalise the formalities of sending their dead colleagues back to India, namely, Antony (from Ernakulam district), Johnsingh (Pallayade, Kanyakumari), John (Pallayade), Jayapal (Pallayade), said that but for their Egyptian saviour they would have had to suffer the same fate as their dead colleagues.

The 11 passengers had actually come to see off their colleague at Seeb International Airport and also to look into the wellbeing of another hospitalised colleague in a local hospital here. The incident occurred on their way back to their work area in Ibra.

"We were happily heading back to Ibra when the mishap occurred. There were three other vehicles, including a trailer, which was behind us. We must have been some five kilometres into Lizook, and about to cross this wadi when we were hit by the floodwaters, which began to drag us into its swirl.

The Oman Observer, official media, reported on Wednesday that fouteen people were dead and many vehicles washed away in heavy rains which fell in Oman yesterday,. Heavy to moderate rains washed away a number of vehicles, uprooted trees, and caused damage to homes and power cuts in some areas of the Sultanate. "The flood victims include eight Omanis and six expatriate residents. Most of the damages occurred in Wadi Al Aq, Wadi Al Maiden and Wadi Adai. According to informed sources, four Indian expatriate workers of Asha Enterprises, a construction company of the Ajith Khimji group, travelling in a 3 tonne Toyota Dyna truck were carried away by flash flood water from the mountains in Al Amerat wadi," Observer report said quoting the Royal Oman Police. -watch this space.

DNRD wins 'Distinguished Technical Project' award for e-Gate in Dubai Government Excellence Program

Award highlights e-Gate's role in automating passport control at Dubai International Airport

April 17, 2003

DUBAI - The e-Gate project implemented by Dubai Naturalisation & Residency Department (DNRD) at Dubai International Airport has won the 'Distinguished Technical Project' in the prestigious Dubai Government Excellence Awards for 2002. The annual awards, which were presented by H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, at an illustrious function held recently in Dubai, singled out e-Gate for introducing hi-tech and secure innovations in the area of passport and immigration control and was received by Colonel Saeed bin Belailah, Director of DNRD.

"This top honour coming from the Government of Dubai is a salute to the team of young nationals in the IT division of DNRD who have been responsible for executing the project," said Colonel Saeed bin Belailah, Director of DNRD. "The team has displayed a strong commitment towards innovation and creativity. As a result, we have a fully automated passport and immigration control system that uses leading edge solutions to permit registered users to enter and exit the airport at a faster pace."

Dubai International Airport is the third in the world and the first in the Middle East to implement the electronic screening system as part of immigration procedures. The user simply places the e-Card at the designated e-Gate and scans a fingerprint. The system identifies the user, verifies and checks the user for any irregularities and then allows access within a few seconds, eliminating the need for manual checking. It is a fail-safe, secure and reliable system aimed at preventing frauds and streamlining passport control.

"e-Gate encompasses Dubai government's vision to usher in the Digital Age in order to improve efficiency in all public sectors and ease the lives of its citizens," continued Colonel bin Belailah. "Dubai International Airport is the right place to implement such a hi-tech project with official estimates stating that the airport will see a dramatic increase in traffic flow within the next few years. Such a scenario calls for automated solutions as manual controls would require additional manpower at the immigration counters, which would significantly slow down the flow of passengers through passport control."

"DNRD regards the award with great pride to be recognized for its contribution to streamline and accelerate passport controls at Dubai International Airport," added Colonel bin Belailah. "Such an achievement would not have been possible without the foresight and drive of H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed who has personally been following the details of the projects that brings prestige to Dubai and positions it as the forefront of the Information Age. The award will inspire DNRD as a whole and drive the e-Gate project team to intensify their efforts to create further IT-driven solutions for the benefit of Dubai."

Colonel bin Belailah said the e-Gate team was in the process of enhancing the e-Gate project by adding the latest technological features, to ensure that the facility is accessible to all sections of society, by leveraging next-generation technology used for identification purposes.

American Marines Robbing and Looting? This picture shows American Marines removing the gold covered entrance of one of the Saddam Palaces