Tropical Cyclone Chapala hits Yemen triggering heavy floods

November 4, 2015

A rare tropical Cyclone Chapala has slammed into Yemen triggering heavy flooding and causing damage in coastal region of the war racked country.
The cyclone made landfall in the south eastern provinces of Hadramawt and Shabwa along the Gulf of Aden coast of Yemen in Arabian Sea bringing winds of speed more than 100 kms per hour.
Key facts

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has categorized Cyclone Chapala as a Category 4 equivalent storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
It is believed that Cyclone Chapala is the most powerful storm that has hit Yemen in last five decades.
It is the second-strongest cyclone on record over the Arabian Sea, only after Cylone Gonu (2007).
The rainfall brought by cyclone has caused flooding of rivers which are usually dry causing destructive mudslides.
Earlier the cyclone had wreaked havoc on the island of Socotra, located 350 kilometers off the Yemeni mainland.

Cyclone Chapala was formed after a low pressure was formed over the Arabian Sea with deep depression intensity. The low pressure was formed due to record warm water believed to be associated with an El Niño event and low vertical wind shear.