October 08, 2021
A rare hurricane has battered the Iranian coast along the Gulf of Oman, but not penetrated into the interior of Iran.
The hurricane marched westward across the gulf. Its eye was well out to sea, but its winds of up to 140 kilometers an hour (85 mph) battered the entire Makran coast of Iran and sent walls of water into coastal towns October 2. That was a relatively mild speed and nothing like the winds of 240 kph (150 mph) that Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana with in August.
The tropical storm, named Cyclone Shaheen, finally went onshore in Oman, where it did considerably more damage.
Tropical storms are named hurricanes in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, cyclones in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific. But they are all the same weather events regardless of the name.
It is very rare for cyclones to penetrate into the Gulf of Oman, According to National Public Radio, Shaheen is only the third cyclone to batter Iran in more than a century. The last one was Cyclone Gonu in 2007 and before that the most recent cyclone to hit Iran was in 1898 when 28 people were killed.
News reports this time said 52 Iranians were hospitalized, none of them with serious injuries, and five fishermen were believed to have been killed. Fishermen were told not to go out to sea, but one fishing boat already at sea reported it had lost power. Another fishing boat was sent out to tow it back to shore when the winds hit just as the boats were nearing shore. Both boats were dashed against rocks and 16 crewmen were washed overboard. Eleven were rescued but the other five are missing and presumed dread. Another individual was also reoported killed.
A provincial official in Sistan va Baluchestan province said the damage was largely confined to piers, breakwaters and fishing boats.