summer article #2: Gonu - Everyone's An Omani

6 days ago, Oman had it's first warning about the worst storm that could ever come to hit it's shores. The authorities turned the emergency status to it's maximum level. The nation panicked by frantically buying anything they though they needed by emptying entire shelves into their trolleys in hypermarkets.

48 tense hours stood between waiting for it to happen and when it finally hit the Sultanate.

The worst storm in history having to rain more than 150 mm of water on lands all over Oman, with very strong winds up to 200Kmph and pushing the waves to hit the rocks and wave-breakers at around 10-12 metres in some areas. The worst to happen since the last storm back in 1977 where it hit the Masirah Islands with a downpour measured at 400 mm, ultimately killing more than 700 innocent victims.

What seemed to be mere days as the storm hit all over the Sultanate but fortunately staying on the coastline felt like eternity. As citizens and residents embraced the very fabric of their mortal souls, hearing their heartbeats faster and faster as the storm grew nearer and nearer and then passing by to give them mercy over the damage it caused along the way.

It tore buildings, roads, walk paths, power lines, water pipes, communication towers and flooded mostly the entire country except for some lucky parts that did not see anything of this disaster but a drizzle and a little breeze such as Nizwa.

As people came out to see the light of day to estimate the damages and put things back on the path to normalcy, they were devastated to see the amount of destruction all around them. But none-the-less put aside their grief to reach out for those who were less fortunate in their peril all over their neighborhoods, village, city and region, too.

The Omani spirit put together what was thought would push a nation down to crumble under the pressure of a disaster. But the spirit of love, warmth and togetherness paved the way to everyone's hearts. In this period; we saw Omanis and other nationalities side by side aiding one another, aiding others and breathing life to a city that once opened their hearts to them, to a city that gave them everything they needed and so much more and what's more; the feeling of giving back to that country was a feeling beyond comparison.

Today, everyone was an Omani.