Cyclone Mekunu lashes Oman, Yemen; Indian among 5 killed, 40 still missing

Cyclone Mekunu blew into the Arabian Peninsula early today, drenching arid Oman and Yemen, cutting off power lines and leaving at least three dead and 40 missing, officials said.

Portions of Salalah, Oman's third-largest city, lost electricity as the cyclone made landfall. The Arabian Sea churned Saturday morning, sending mounds of sea foam into the air. The waves ate into one tourist beach, pulling hunks of it away and toppling thatch umbrellas cemented into the sand.

As Mekunu barreled overhead, the eye of the storm provided a moment's respite. At one luxury hotel, which already had evacuated its guests, workers sat down early for a traditional "suhoor," a meal Muslims eat before sunrise during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. They laughed and shared plates by flashlight in a darkened ballroom, the cyclone's wind a dull roar behind their clatter.

Five people including an Indian national were killed and at least 40 missing on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Friday as Cyclone Mekunu disrupted the area before passing through Arabian Peninsula's southern coast.