Summer is coming to an end here in Muscat, Oman. We even saw rain last week...and boy, did we ever see it!! The mountains around Muscat, the Al Hajar range, are solid rock so when it rains, nothing soaks in and it is all watershed. Anything below better be prepared! The average annual rainfall in Muscat is 0.8 - 3.9" per year. Yes, per year! On Wednesday, it rained pretty hard. I don't know how much fell, but my guess is that we're now pretty close to that 3.9" maximum for the year. There was flooding all over the city and a 9' section of the wall behind my house collapsed from the weight of an additional 4' of dirt. The house behind mine was leveled and the owner is building 2 houses on that property. The soil level has been raised at least 4' and when it rained, the wall on my property couldn't handle the weight and one section collapsed. You can see in the picture just how high the soil level is. The picture doesn't show it, but the wall goes down another 2 feet. We expect more sections to fall before we can get the property owner to do something about it.
My problem is nothing compared to what motorists had to deal with on Wednesday! The flooding was unbelievable!! Cars were swept away, buildings crumbled and there is mud everywhere now. I only have satellite TV with no local coverage so I'll have to wait until I get back to work on Wednesday to read about it in the newspapers. This is the first day of the biggest religious holiday here, Eid al Adha, and we have Sunday through Tuesday off. Hopefully, it won't rain for a while so that cars can be removed and the mud cleared away.
It was the first time it rained since I arrived here in July 2010. When I left work, without an umbrella, I took my time getting to my car. Rain never felt so good...
My problem is nothing compared to what motorists had to deal with on Wednesday! The flooding was unbelievable!! Cars were swept away, buildings crumbled and there is mud everywhere now. I only have satellite TV with no local coverage so I'll have to wait until I get back to work on Wednesday to read about it in the newspapers. This is the first day of the biggest religious holiday here, Eid al Adha, and we have Sunday through Tuesday off. Hopefully, it won't rain for a while so that cars can be removed and the mud cleared away.
4 comments:
Oh my goodness! Which roads are in those pictures? I know your house and can't imagine having the wall coming down. Hopefully the rains will ease and you won't have all that dirt flowing into your yard. The flash floods there can be very intense - do be careful!
Nomads, I am next door to the Oasis and the wall that fell and will probably continue to fall runs along the back wall, parallel to W. 1929. Not sure what road is directly behind my house. GSO has told me they will put up some kind of barrier until they can get with the property owner and reinforce/rebuild the wall that belongs to us! And it rained again to night...just a little, but I think we are officially over the annual average! It smells so good when it rains here!!
We knew the family in that house before you and know that back wall - scary that it could just come down like that!! I remember all to well getting stuck in flooded streets especially going through Al Kuwair where Istanbuly is - and along the Al Gubrah Round About.
I totally agree about the smell after the rain though! Here in Mozambique it has an amazing smell too! And when it is so dusty and dry it feels so good - even when you know too much will bring trouble to so many.
Hope your wall is sorted out soon!
Ralph lived here before me. I got lucky and arrived at a good time and the house was mine! I love it. Joe, our GSO, said the contractor will be here tomorrow to put up a temporary wall while they figure out what to do next. And it is going to rain again tonight. I love it! It's getting me in the mood for a chilly week in Paris next month!! I love my job...
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