Yemen

May 25th, 2018 ― Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has launched an immediate response to Cyclone Mekunu, which is crashing into the Arabian Peninsula this weekend.

From its Contingency Fund, QRCS allocated $100,000 for initial relief in Yemen, providing emergency medical services and food and nonfood items.

Since Wednesday, QRCS's Disaster Information Management Center (DIMC) has been convened to keep up-to-date with the cyclone and ensure the availability of the relief reserves and field hospital for potential intervention.

by Reuters Friday, 25 May 2018 17:59 GMT

Yemen declared a state of emergency on Thursday for Socotra (Updates casualties, dateline)

By Mohammed Mokhashaf

ADEN, May 25 (Reuters) - Five people were killed and at least 40 missing on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Friday as Cyclone Mekunu pummelled the area before making its way to the Arabian Peninsula's southern coast.

Read more at the Thomson Reuters Foundation

Against a backdrop of critical humanitarian needs faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Libya, UNHCR has up-scaled its response in seeking durable solutions for persons of concern (POCs) in third safe countries through its resettlement and humanitarian evacuations programmes.

The Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Mekunu’ over Westcentral Arabian Sea moved further north-northwestwards with a speed of 12 Kmph during past 06 hours, intensified slightly further and lay centered at 1730 hrs IST of today, 25 th May 2018 over Westcentral Arabian Sea near latitude 16.4 0N and longitude 54.1 0E, about 420 km nearly north of Socotra Islands and 70 km south of Salalah(Oman).

22.2 million People are in need of humanitarian assistance

2 million People are internally displaced

2.2 million People are aimed to be supported by IOM

Key Highlights

• Installations of electric submersible and horizontal pump units were completed in An-Nadirah city in Ibb, expected to benefit over 14,000 individuals. 344,000 liters of water was trucked to different water points, hospitals, and other locations, benefitting over 22,000 individuals.

Tropical Cyclone Mekunu is expected to hit Yemen and Oman next week

Africa Weather Hazards

1. Insufficient rain since January has resulted in large moisture deficits and below-average vegetation conditions over portions of northwestern Angola.

2. Poorly-distributed rain since late February has resulted in abnormal dryness across central and northeastern Ethiopia.

3. A slow onset to seasonal rainfall across the southern Gulf of Guinea countries has led to strengthening moisture deficits throughout the region.

'Norway's humanitarian budget has never been bigger than it is now, but the needs created by the world's humanitarian crises are continuing to grow. The Government has therefore proposed increasing the humanitarian budget by NOK 116 million. The additional funds will be channelled primarily to the crises in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide.

I am extremely concerned by recent developments in Yemen. Over the past few weeks we have seen an escalation in conflict, growing restrictions on humanitarian action and a reduction in essential commercial imports. These factors are compounding the world’s worst humanitarian crisis at a time when millions of Yemenis face acute food insecurity and a possible resurgence of cholera or watery diarrhoea.

by Reuters
Thursday, 24 May 2018 14:38 GMT

The storm is expected to hit southern Yemen and the coast of neighboring Oman on Thursday (Adds loss of communications, closure of Omani airport)

By Mohammed Mokhashaf

ADEN, May 24 (Reuters) - Yemen declared a state of emergency on the island of Socotra on Thursday as a tropical storm intensified after flooding several villages and capsizing boats to leave at least 17 people missing, government officials said.

Tropical Cyclone MEKUNU continued moving north-west over the Southwest Arabian Sea, strengthening. Its centre passed east of Socotra island (Yemen) and on 24 May at 0.00 UTC, it was located 440 km south-east of Salalah city (Oman) with maximum sustained winds of 148 km/h.

In this issue

1. Humanitarian & Development Overview
   
2. Partners activities in Host Communities
   
3. Voices from Jordan
   
4. Changing the narrative
   
5. Partners activities in Camps
   
6. Innovation
   
7. Advocacy

Humanitarian and Development Overview

The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Mekunu’ over Westcentral & adjoining Southwest Arabian Sea moved further north-northwestwards with a speed of 11 Kmph during past 06 hours and lay centered at 1730 hrs IST of 24 th May 2018 over Westcentral & adjoining Southwest Arabian Sea near latitude 14.3 0N and longitude 55.2 0E, about 230 km north-northeast of Socotra Islands and 320 km south-southeast of Salalah (Oman).

JTWC Summary: TROPICAL CYCLONE (TC) 02A (MEKUNU), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 499 NM SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF MASIRAH ISLAND, HAS TRACKED NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD AT 06 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS DEEP CONVECTION AND GOOD SYMMETRY AROUND AN OBSCURED LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC). THE INITIAL POSITION IS SUPPORTED BY A 231714Z 89 GHZ AMSU MICROWAVE IMAGE SHOWING BANDING WRAPPING IN FROM THE NORTH AND SOUTH AND A MICROWAVE EYE FEATURE. THE POSITION IS FURTHER SUPPORTED BY A 231716Z ASCAT IMAGE.