Scores injured as tropical storm hits eastern Yemen

By Mubarak Mohamed

SANAA, Yemen

Scores of people were injured and hundreds of families displaced as a tropical storm struck Yemen’s eastern Mahra province, according to a local Yemeni spokesman on Monday.

"Heavy rains and floods have left more than 100 people injured while one person was missing,” Issa al-Qumeiri told Anadolu Agency.

He said 150 houses were damaged while more than 2,000 families were evacuated since cyclone Luban hit the province on Sunday.

“The province has become a disaster zone,” he said, calling on the Yemeni government and international organizations to provide emergency relief to residents.

“There is widespread infrastructure damage in the area,” he said.

Cyclone Luban formed in the Arabian Sea off Oman last week.

This is the fifth time the tropical storm struck Yemen since 2015.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.