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Cyclone Gonu heads for Iran
06/06/2007 16:00 - (SA)
Tehran - Iran ordered on Wednesday people living on the coast or river banks in two southern provinces to move inland to escape the onslaught of one of the strongest cyclones to hit the region in years.
The interior ministry said Cyclone Gonu would strike the southern coast off the Straits of Hormuz and Sea of Oman in the coming hours after earlier hitting Oman, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The southern ports of Bandar-e Jask and Chahbahar in the southern provinces of Hormorzgan and Sistan-Baluchestan were set to be the worst affected by torrential rain, possible floods and waves up to five metres high.
"All the residents in these provinces are kindly requested to leave the coastal areas and river banks immediately," the agency quoted a ministry statement as saying.
"They should take shelter in safe areas away from the seashore and river banks," it added.
Iranian state television said that downpours were already under way in coastal areas and that the road between Bandar-e Jask and the inland town of Minab further west was flooded.
State media also quoted officials as saying there was no risk of a tsunami.
Cyclone Gonu hit the east coast of Oman early on Wednesday with heavy rain and high winds lashing Muscat, and the streets of the capital were almost deserted except for a few all-terrain vehicles.
- AFP
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