SALALAH, Oman -- Cyclone Mekunu neared the Arabian Peninsula on Friday as its outer bands dumped heavy rain and bent palm trees in Oman, a sign of the approaching storm's power after earlier thrashing the Yemeni island of Socotra. Already at least 40 people, including Yemenis, Indians and Sudanese, were reported missing on Socotra, where flash floods washed away thousands of animals and cut power lines on the isle in the Arabian Sea. The cyclone is expected to make landfall early Saturday near Salalah, Oman's third-largest city and home to some 200,000 people close to the sultanate's border with war-ravaged Yemen. The storm had intensified to a category two cyclone as it hit Oman's Dhofar and Al-Wusta provinces on the Arabian Sea on Friday, battering the coast with torrential rains, strong winds and massive waves. On the outskirts of the city, near the Salalah International Airport, what once was a dry creek bed had become a raging river. The port of Salalah, crucial to Qatar amid a boycott by four Arab nations over a diplomatic spat with Doha, said it also had taken precautions and secured cranes ahead of the cyclone. Standing water covered some roads on Friday, causing at least one car to hydroplane and flip over. Tarek al-Shanfari of the Royal Oman Police's public relations department said there had been at least three fatalities in the storm, including the death of a 12-year-old girl who was hit in the head by a door flung open by the wind. Authorities in Oman have opened up local schools in the city of Salalah to shelter those whose homes are at risk as Cyclone Mekunu heads to the shores of this Arabian Peninsula country. He acknowledged being a bit scared of the storm but said: “Inshallah, we are safe here.”

India's Meteorological Department said the storm packed maximum sustained winds of170-180 kph (105 to 111 mph), gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph). The Indian Meteorological Department, which tracks a cyclone heading toward the coast of Oman, says that country's city of Salalah is "expected to experience maximum wind and maximum rainfall and also the maximum storm surge." On Socotra, authorities relocated over 230 families to sturdier buildings and other areas, including those more inland and in the island's mountains, Yemeni security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. At least 40 others are missing from the Yemeni island of Socotra, which earlier took the storm’s brunt. Some humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived on the island just hours after the cyclone receded. Rageh Bakrit, the governor of al-Mahra province, said on his official Twitter account late on Friday that strong winds had blown down houses and taken out communication lines and water services. Socotra Gov Ramzy Mahrous said one ship sank and two others ran aground in the storm, initially saying authorities believed 17 people were missing and presumed dead.
Cyclone Mekunu makes landfall near Salalah, Oman, killing at least five people with 30 others reported missing. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), maximum sustained winds of 170–180 kilometres per hour (106–112 mph) have been recorded, equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is moving north toward Saudi Arabia.