Fujairah braces for Cyclone Ashobaa

FUJAIRAH // Hotel owners, fishermen and residents battened down the hatches on Wednesday as Cyclone Ashobaa approached Fujairah’s coast.

Police officers were brought in from Abu Dhabi to help out if needed. “We’re expecting to have rough seas and high waves, but we’re prepared for all circumstances,” said Maj Saeed Al Hassani of Fujairah Police.

“We had a meeting with the municipality, public works, coastguard and the Civil Defence, and discussed the crisis and emergency management plan to cover all areas and be prepared for the worst.”

Police warned that conditions in the Gulf of Oman would become rough and advised people against swimming and sailing.

Fujairah International Marine Club has been monitoring the situation closely. “We started preparing on Tuesday,” said Maj Ahmed Ibrahim, its managing director.

“All diving and sailing trips have been postponed until further notice, and we are in constant contact with the coastguards for any updates.

“We contacted the boat owners and assisted them in replacing the old ropes with new ones to secure their boats. Some of the yacht owners pulled their yachts out of the water so they would not be damaged by the storm.

“All of the heavy equipment is being kept in safe places away from the sea and we cleared the area. All of the boats and yachts are docked near the marina and well tied.”

The coastguard has been keeping sailors and divers informed.

“I received a call [on Tuesday] regarding the weather conditions and the storm that would affect the area [on Wednesday],” said Mohammmed Salem, 35, an Emirati boat owner.

“My boat was docked away from the port, so I moved it and placed it in the port so it wouldn’t shift away during the storm.

“All of the trips were cancelled. I was supposed to take some visitors on a tour to Khor Fakkan beach tomorrow, but we cancelled it due to the expected weather conditions.”

An instructor at Divers Down, a group who frequently use the water off Fujairah, said all diving trips were cancelled on Wednesday, and they would await forecasts and coastguard advice before deciding whether to head out on Thursday.

Mohammed Amen, 40, an Egyptian course director at Al Boom Diving in Al Aqah who has been working in this field for almost 25 years, can remember the last time a major storm hit.

“This happened before, eight years ago, with Cyclone Gonu, and we stopped for five days. Of course there will be some financial loss but the life of a human being is more precious than anything else.

“All of our trips have been cancelled since yesterday and we don’t know when we could proceed,” Mr Amen said. “We have three boats. Each one can carry 15 divers and most of our clients are tourists who have a very restricted schedule and might miss this experience.”

The Fujairah Fishermen Association said boats returned to port early on Wednesday to avoid rougher conditions.

“Fishermen went to sea as usual [on Wednesday] but because of the warnings they stayed within three miles of shore,” a spokesman said.

“The sea started to get rough after 4pm and all of the fishermen went back to the port. We prepared everything just in case and informed the fishermen accordingly.”

Police advised residents to check their weather information from a reliable source.

rhaza@thenational.ae