Gonu-newsfeeds, June 11, 2007

Hi, these are some general reports on the Gonu aftermath.
The local media has some indepth coverage on the post-Gonu situation.
Check this out!

Over $1 billion losses
MUSCAT – Oman could face losses over $1billion following the devastation caused by Cyclone Gonu, officials said.
Reports quoting analysts added that the brunt of this damage may have to borne by insurance firms.
But, the head of a top insurance firm in Oman, yesterday noted that it was too premature to come to any conclusions on the loss estimates as yet.
Dr J Retnakumar, Resident Manager (Oman Operations) of the New India Assurance Co Ltd (NIA), said: “I guess it is too premature to come to any such sweeping conclusion. Since the assessment part is not yet over, I would call this only a rough estimate. There is still mud and sleet everywhere. The cleaning operations are still continuing, so let us wait for another two to three days before we give a loss estimate. You never know, it could be even more than that.”
The Capital Market Authority (CMA), which is the market regulator for the insurance industry, met with top officials of insurance companies in the Sultanate on Sunday. They were asked to speedily process Gonu-related claims.
Insurance firm officials noted that they were already flooded with “all type of claims”. “We have already obtained over 200 non-motor claims,” Dr Retnakumar said.
Deepak Kamath, Country Manager — AXA Oman said that they have received close to 200 claims, and said that they expected 300-400 motor insurance claims, and another 100 other claims arising out of Gonu.
Dr Retnakumar noted that owners of flood-damaged cars without insurance cover for Storm, Tempest and Flood (STF) perils, will not be able to recoup costs from their insurers. Cars with third-party coverage are not STF insured and thus not eligible to submit claims for flood damage. Neither can owners with comprehensive coverage who did not include additional STF coverage in their policy.
Royal & SunAlliance (RASA) noted that their company completed more than 40 surveys, with interim claims payments ready to be paid out to some of the worst affected clients, RASA said in a statement.
“The RASA team has been working ceaselessly since the cyclone in ensuring that they are now ready to service their clients who have suffered the unfortunate destructive force of Gonu. Besides setting up special helpline numbers and creating a web-based claim intimation process, RASA has created a special help desk at the office to specifically handle all claims with respect to Gonu.
”We have reassigned internal resources to provide additional staff to service customers. Also done is a syndication of additional loss adjusters on an exclusive basis. RASA has also flown in loss adjusters from other parts of the world (UK, UAE) to help conduct speedy loss surveys,” the statement added.
“Much of the damage is concentrated in the capital region, an area that also provides a significant proportion of the insurers' business. Consequently, insurers across-the-board are liable to pay out hefty claims, with bigger firms likely to the worse off than the smaller ones. But with reinsurers picking up much of the tab, the net loss to local insurance firms is not expected to be considerable,” the Oman Daily Observer, said quoting analysts.
Meanwhile, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) has sent a circular to all public stock companies listed in Muscat Securities Market (MSM) asking them to promptly declare damages caused by the cyclone. Abdullah bin Salim al Salmi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for monitoring affairs at the CMA, stated that the authority has asked all stock companies enlisted with MSM and which sustained any damages due to the cyclone should promptly declare the same and their effect on the companies' financial positions in general as also any insurance coverage for them through MSM information centre or other means.
The declaration stems from the keenness to furnish investors with adequate and on time information to enable them to take scientific-based investment decisions, as stressed by CMA declaration's rules and conditions.
The Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) and Oman Mobile Communications Company (OmanMobile) also noted that they were sparing no effort to restore both fixed and mobile telephony to various regions of the Sultanate as they were before the cyclone.
Dr Mohammed bin Ali Al Wahaibi, Omantel Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of OmanMobile stressed that the companies are playing a major role in preserving the safety of the communications sector in country under such natural conditions. He said the company mobilised more that 400 engineers and communication technicians to work round the clock to restore the service to areas devastated by the cyclone
Meanwhile, water supplies have been restored to a number of regions in the Governorate of Muscat which were affected by the tropical cyclone Gonu over the past days, the Oman News Agency said.
Water supplies have returned to Qurum, Shatti Al Qurum, Madinat A'Sultan Qaboos, Northern Athaiba, Ghubrah and parts of Al Khuwair area.
There are no reports of British casualties in Oman, the British Embassy in Oman said.
British nationals who continue to require consular assistance can contact the Embassy on 24609000 during office hours (0730-1430). The out-of-hours emergency number is 99200865 (1430 - 0730). British passport production at the Embassy has been disrupted. The Embassy hopes to resume a normal service as soon as possible. British nationals who have lost their passports should report the loss to the Royal Oman Police as soon as possible.
Ambassador Dr Noel Guckian said: “The staff of the Embassy send our sympathies to all members of the British, Omani and wider community affected by cyclone Gonu. We very much hope that we are all back to normal soon. We have been very impressed by the community spirit shown by all at this difficult time. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the emergency authorities on their efforts to bring the area back to normal as soon as possible. My staff and I stand ready to help in any way we can.” Further Embassy advice is available at www.britishembassy.gov.uk/oman and www.fco.gov.uk (under ‘Travel Advice’).
The American embassy said that American citizens residing or traveling in Oman are advised to limit travel as much as possible during the immediate recovery from Cyclone Gonu.
“American citizens should continue to monitor local media reports for relevant guidance issued by the government of Oman. It is recommended that individuals continue to avoid beaches, coastal areas, lowlands, wadis, and streams. Citizens are also advised to exercise caution on the roads, some of which experienced considerable damage,” a notification said.
American citizens should call the Embassy if they have an emergency situation. Americans and others are also requested to contact the Embassy if they know of Americans in emergency situations. The Embassy’s phone number is (968) 2469-8989 during working hours (Saturday through Wednesday, 8:00 a.m.to 4:30 p.m.) After working hours, or if the Embassy is closed, please contact the Embassy at (968) 2469-9049.
Americans living or traveling in Oman are encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy in Muscat. Registration with Embassies/Consulates is available at www.travel.state.gov under “International Travel for U.S. Citizens,” the notification said.
Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy in Muscat. Registration ensures that you receive warden messages and other updates and helps Consular officers to provide information and other assistance.

Meanwhile, India’s national carrier, Indian, said that it hoped to clear by Monday the backlog of passengers stranded in Muscat since last week’s cyclonic storm. According to a senior airline official, a series of additional flights operated by Indian have helped considerably reduce the backlog, with the last lot of stranded passengers likely to depart for Indian destinations by today. More than 1,000 passengers have had to endure long delays on account of flights cancellations prompted by last week’s storm.
Abhay Pathak, Regional Manager — Gulf, arrived in Muscat on Sunday to supervise the smooth and early departure of the stranded passengers.
Pathak told the media in Oman that they operated two extra flights to Calicut and Cochin on Saturday, while another extra flight, a wide-bodied Airbus A300, was due to be operated to Mumbai yesterday. “With these extra flights, coming on top of the scheduled flights, we hope to clear the backlog of passengers by (Monday).
These additional flights were arranged purely as a service to the stranded passengers and not with any major commercial objective in mind. Arranging for extra flights has been a major challenge because it is currently the peak season. Besides, resources and pilots are limited. Yet, we somehow did manage to lay on additional flights purely to serve our customers,” Pathak said. Tropical cyclone Gonu, according to the official, also had an impact on services to the wider Gulf region.
“We had to cancel 14 flights to Dubai and Sharjah when Gonu struck last Wednesday because overflights over Oman were not possible during the storm.” Indian operates a total of 125 flights per week out of the Gulf, including 85 from the UAE. From Muscat, the national carrier of India operates 14 flights per week.
The airline has launched direct flights to Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad, and hopes to expand its service when new aircraft are inducted into the fleet.

Six Indians dead
MUSCAT – A total of six Indians are confirmed dead in the devastating cyclone that hit Oman last week. An equal number are missing, Indian Embassy officials said yesterday.
“So far six Indians are confirmed dead. We have found six bodies so far,” J. Tripathi, the charge d’ affairs, Indian Embassy said.
Out of the six, one is a female. “The body of Shobana, from Pune, was found today,” Tripathi said.
The others are Prithvi Pal Singh, Prempal Singh (both from Punjab), Anil Kumar of Ottapalam at Palakkad in Kerala and Sarawana Kumar Bilai (Rajasthan), Prakash from Mysore in Karnataka and Pokkan Sreenu, (from East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh).
The bodies of Prithvi Pal Singh of Punjab and Anil Kumar of Ottapalam at Palakkad in Kerala were found on Sunday.
Anil Kumar's body was found in a highly decomposed state and therefore his remanins were cremated in Oman. Earlier, reports quoted Indian Minister of State for External Affairs minister, E. Ahamed, as of saying that he and the Indian Embassy officials have spoken to the father of Anil Kumar and conveyed this sad message.
Reports noted that the families of both the Punjabis are settled in Muscat.
The Indian government also decided to waive for a month the charge of RO30 for duplicate passports.
"Many people have lost their passports and so we have decided to waive of the charges for a month," Ahamed had said in India.
Those who are missing include Sajit Kumar (Calicut, Kerala), Udayan (Guruvayur, Kerala), Sami (Andhra Pradesh), Mohammed Ali and Binu (both from Ernakulam, Kerala).
The name of another missing person from Punjab is not yet known.
Two other Indians -- Dharmarajan and Mohammed Abdul Rahim - both from Andhra Pradesh, were injured in the storm, reports said.