YEMEN has been battered by the biggest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the country, which could bring three years鈥� worth of rain in one day. This comes on top of the country鈥檚 raging civil war.
As 麻豆传媒 went to press, Chapala had made landfall, hitting the city of Mukalla on Yemen鈥檚 southern coastline, held by Al-Qaida. It is home to 300,000 people.
UN agencies , but expressed fears that Mukalla was ill-equipped to deal with the cyclone. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have any local government, so our concern would be that normal disaster management provision will not be very effective,鈥� says Denis McClean of the .
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Because Yemen鈥檚 terrain is a solid sand crust, the rain cannot be soaked up, leading to flooding and mudslides. This can only worsen what is already a bleak picture for the country鈥檚 citizens. 鈥淓ighty per cent of the population needs some kind of humanitarian assistance, so having a cyclone arrive at this time has been very unfortunate,鈥� says McClean.
鈥淓ighty per cent of the population of Yemen needs some kind of humanitarian assistance鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淎rabian storm鈥�