War-weary citizens in Yemen are facing a danger of a different kind: one of the strongest storms the region has ever experienced, CNN reported Nov. 3rd, 2015.
Tropical Cyclone Chapala is barreling toward Yemen’s coast, bringing the threat of fierce winds and potentially several times the amount of rain that the impoverished country usually gets in an entire year.
The storm — the second strongest ever recorded in the Arabian Sea — is expected to make landfall on Yemen’s central coast Tuesday.
Chapala was already dumping light to medium rain in Al Mukalla, where wave heights swelled between 1-4 meters (3-13 feet). The storm was some 117 kilometers (72 miles) south of the port city early Tuesday local time.
Chapala was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kph (120 mph) Monday, but was expected to weaken somewhat as it gets closer to the dry air of the Arabian Peninsula.
Chapala already brushed past Socotra, a Yemeni island in the Arabian Sea where 60,000 to 65,000 people live.