Powerful cyclone pounds Mideast oil region
• NEW: Iran says storm unlikely to threaten its oil platforms
• Oil prices rise as cyclone heads for main oil shipping route
• Tens of thousands evacuated in Oman; major port shut down
• Cyclone expected to be strongest Mideast storm on record
MUSCAT, Oman (AP) -- Oman evacuated tens of thousands of people Wednesday, suspended oil exports, and closed a major port as a weakening Cyclone Gonu roared toward the Strait of Hormuz -- the world's major transport artery for Persian Gulf oil.
Oil prices rose amid forecasts that the storm -- a rarity in the region -- was barreling toward Iran.
Gonu was expected to hit land in southeastern Iran on Thursday or Friday, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Hundreds of Iranians living near the Sea of Oman were evacuated, but Iranian officials said the storm was unlikely to threaten the country's oil platforms and installations in the Persian Gulf because they are located far from its path.
In Oman, authorities closed all operations at the port of Sohar and evacuated the 11,000 workers, port spokesman Dirk Jan De Vink said. (Watch flooded streets, damaged buildings in Muscat )
Sohar's oil refinery and petrochemical plant remained running at very low levels, with authorities considering a total shutdown, he said.
Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashimi of the Ministry of Oil and Gas said rough seas prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively halting the country's oil exports.
But production was continuing except in one small field, he said.
Electricity went out in Muscat by noon Wednesday, as winds of 62 mph hit the capital. Oman television broadcast footage of streets and buildings flooded with water. Health ministry official Ali bin Gaafar bin Mohammed said rescue workers had difficulties reaching affected areas.
"Even helicopters cannot fly, so it is very difficult," he said. In the nearby town of Al-Amriyat, a flood-related mudslide closed a main road.
Flights in and out of Oman's Seeb International Airport were canceled Wednesday, according to an official. (Watch storm pound Oman's coast )
Maximum sustained winds of about 86 miles per hour were reported with gusts to nearly 104 miles per hour, regional weather services said.
As of 1 p.m. (5 a.m. ET), the storm was reported about 60 nautical miles southeast of Muscat, moving in a northwesterly direction, the services said. A tracking map posted on the Web site of the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicted the center of the storm would pass the capital, Muscat, later in the day.
Ships changing routes to avoid storm
Further northeast, in the UAE port of Fujairah, the world's third-largest shipping fuel center, all refueling and ship-to-ship supply operations had been halted. Ships were being allowed to berth but other marine activities were suspended, officials said.
A few ships were still sailing through the nearby Strait of Hormuz despite 4- to 6-foot swells and strong winds, according to Suresh Nair of the Gulf Agency Co. shipping firm.
"The entire area is unsafe. Vessels that were bound to call here say they are diverting because of the storm," Nair said. "Some are still going through the strait."
Reports of people trapped
Rains had subsided slightly earlier Wednesday but had intensified again by midmorning, with almost zero visibility, and were expected to remain strong through mid-afternoon.
Shareefa bint Khalfan, Omani minister of social development, said more than 20,000 people were evacuated and housed in government-provided dwellings outfitted with medicines and necessary supplies.
Police officials reported a body washed ashore in the eastern coastal city of Sur and there were reports of people trapped inside homes in low-lying areas around the capital.
Oman's eastern provinces were cut off, with heavy rains making the roads unusable and communication lines severed. "We have no communication with them, nothing," said a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity as is customary for security and police officials in Oman.
Strongest storm on record?
Gonu, which means a bag made of palm leaves in the language of the Maldives, is expected to be the strongest cyclone to hit the Arabian Peninsula since recordkeeping started in 1945. A cyclone is the term used for hurricanes in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.
"Historical record in that part of the world doesn't go back that far because these types of storms are very, very unusual for this part of the world. It's likely that parts of Oman have never experienced storms like this," said Julian Heming, a meteorologist at The Met Office, a weather tracking agency within the British Ministry of Defense.
