VIDEO: Cyclone Shaheen will affect UAE east coast, schools and universities go online
- 02 Oct 2021
Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
The UAE authorities held an emergency meeting to assess the situation ahead of the tropical storm Shaheen that has been classified as a category 1 tropical cyclone.
The authorities in Oman declared an emergency and urged thousands of residents in coastal areas to leave their homes and take shelter in higher areas.
The UAE National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Team held its second meeting to discuss developments on Shaheen.
The Emergency and Crisis Team said, "We would like to assure everyone that the concerned authorities are on a high level of preparedness and readiness to deal with the upcoming tropical situation, and the measures that will be taken are proactive and preventive measures to mitigate its impact on the country's regions.”
According to information issued by the centre, the tropical storm Shaheen in the Arabian Sea has turned into a category 1 hurricane.
The Emergency and Crisis Team said that Shaheen was centred in the northwest of the Arabian Sea at latitude 24.3 north and longitude 60.9 east, accompanied by various formations of clouds interspersed with cumulus clouds of different intensity and strong winds on the Arabian Sea, with a speed around the centre from 116 to 140 km.
The center of the cyclone is 410 km from the coast of Fujairah, and the speed of the cyclone movement is 15 km / h towards west - northwest.
It is expected that the movement of tropical cyclone Shaheen will continue towards the coasts of the Sultanate of Oman within the next 24 hours, and the impact of the tropical situation has begun on the eastern coast of the UAE.
The authorities added that according to the forecasts of the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, it is expected that some eastern coastal areas of the country will be affected from Sunday, October 3, until Tuesday, October 5.
The team said it is forbidden to approach the valleys, low places.
From Saturday, there will be a sea tide, especially with the period of high tide on low areas, and it will become striking to very turbulent from Sunday dawn and may reach during this period to 5 meters, and from the afternoon and evening of Sunday, October 3, some areas of the country are affected by the extension of the tropical situation, especially the northeastern regions of Al-Ain and the southern regions extend over some of the central interior regions, where convective clouds multiply, accompanied by rainfall of varying intensity.
He added, "The rain will lead to the flow of valleys and torrents and the accumulation of water in some low areas, and the winds will have active to strong speeds that will raise dust and reduce the range of horizontal visibility, especially with convective clouds accompanied by lightning and thunder sometimes."
Authorities pointed out that the emergency, crisis and disaster teams at the local level directed schools and institutions to make distance learning. They also urged headquarters of local government agencies to work remotely based on all data and indicators to measure the severity of the weather conditions.
The weather body said, “We recommend our honourable audience, specifically those residing in Eastern coastal areas, to follow all procedures and measures as announced by the relevant authorities at the local level, and we stress the importance of your safety and the safety of all segments of society, and we point out that all national and local teams, along with the police authorities, and vital facilities are fully prepared to follow up on the situation and take the necessary measures to ensure your health and safety.”
The emergency and crisis team added, "We call on all members of society, in such weather conditions, to follow the news and information broadcast by the National Centre of Meteorology on all its electronic platforms and through social media, and to ensure that we are not drawn into any rumours circulated about weather conditions, and we also call for obtaining all information always from its official sources, and we call on everyone to be vigilant in such weather conditions and to stay away from valleys and dams in areas identified by the concerned authorities to avoid any undesirable events.”
