Cyclone Phet down to one

KARACHI: The latest storm path forecast on tropicalstormrisk.com shows Phet downgrading to a Category-1 tropical storm before it hits the Pakistan coastline.

Authorities have already evacuated nearly 1,000 people and were on standby for more. In a worst-case scenario up to 50,000 people could be affected on Pakistan’s coast, said Commander Salman Ali, a spokesman for Pakistan Navy in Karachi.

Although the storm has weakened significantly, it manged to kill two people in Oman on Friday. Oman also halted its oil and gas production as Phet hit the country’s coast, but no facilities were damaged, DPO and Oman LNG spokesmen said. Phet hit Sur, where Oman’s three LNG production facilities, known as trains, were located, but no damage was reported.