Iran ordered on Wednesday people living on the coast or river banks in two southern provinces to move inland to escape the onslaught of one of the strongest cyclones to hit the region in years. The interior ministry said Cyclone Gonu would strike the southern coast off the Straits of Hormuz and Sea of Oman in the coming hours after earlier hitting Oman.
The southern ports of Bandar-e Jask and Chahbahar in the southern provinces of Hormorzgan and Sistan-Baluchestan were set to be the worst affected by torrential rain, possible floods and waves up to five metres high. Iranian state television said that downpours were already under way in coastal areas and that the road between Bandar-e Jask and the inland town of Minab further west was flooded. |