The Calm after the Storm

Its now been two days since the Tropical storm Phet passed through Oman and things have gone back to almost normal. And life is back on track or so it seems.

But look closer beneath the surface and you will see many things which will take some more time to stabilize.

For one there are severe traffic jams which are because some parts of town got severly flooded and some roads have been closed off and diversions provided,bringing traffic to almost a crawl. Then there is a lot of dust in the air and bits of debris on the sides of the road, both of which are unusual occurences in a beautiful and well maintained city like Muscat. Sadly too, the CCC Prisunic and Macdonald's suffered badly for the second time in three years and are temporarily closed( co-incidentally, today happens to the the third anniversary of the day that Cyclone Gonu battered and bruised Muscat, leaving it changed in many, many ways)

On the plus side is the thought that things could have been far worse and that we all have actually got off lightly.What was earlier predicted as a Category 5 cyclone, got downgraded to a Tropical storm and the government authorites ensured that everyone was adequately warned.In addition Saturday was declared a Public holiday so that there would be minimal movement on the roads. Of course there were the stubborn diehards who did venture out that day, but they should have known better,

Things can and will get better from hereon and here's closing with a very special 'Thank You' to those who made that day easy for all of us.