17 missing as cyclone pummels Yemen’s island

SOCOTRA, Yemen: Seventeen people were missing and hundreds of others evacuated from their homes Thursday after a cyclone hit Socotra, with Yemen´s government declaring the island a "disaster province".

Yemen´s neighbour Oman is preparing for landfall of Cyclone Mekunu on Friday, with national weather experts expecting it to intensify to a category two cyclone from category one, after it hit Socotra on Wednesday night.

The missing people had been in two boats that sunk and three vehicles swept away by floods, said Ramzy Mahrous, governor of Socotra, an island paradise 350 kilometres (220 miles) off Yemen in the Arabian Sea. Mahrous said Socotra could not handle relief efforts on its own, with the number of missing expected to rise.

"The coastal areas were submerged by floods causing heavy damage to homes," with more than 10 villages in Socotra´s south and east cut off, Mahrous told AFP. Four people on one of the sunken boats were rescued while three of the missing had vehicles swept away by flooding, said Fisheries Minister Fahad Kafin.

Around 150 families were evacuated to government facilities after downpours flooded houses and streets, trapping people in their homes, he told AFP. Some residents carrying children tried to escape through the flooded streets, an AFP correspondent said.