Yemen’s state meteorological department, located in the Houthi-held capital, is in charge of cyclone warnings. But due to the war that has divided the country, local authorities and residents increasingly rely on their own early warning centers. In Mukalla, the capital of Hadhramaut province, amateur meteorologists Abdul Rahman Hamed and Hussein Al Amoudi created their own center in May 2017. The two friends do not have a meteorological satellite or a processing station, or even high-speed Internet. But Hamed, an architect, has taken courses in meteorology, and the two have made it their mission to monitor the increasingly devastating weather patterns through any source they can. When Hamed and Amoudi hear about unusual movements of clouds and winds in the Indian Ocean, they scramble to their poorly equipped office in Mukalla. Since 1996, Hamed says cyclones and tropical storms have traveled beyond India and Pakistan to Yemen with increased frequency and intensity. He calls 2015 a “radical year” because two cyclones hit Yemen. But this year, three cyclones slashed through Yemen, ravaging cities that had been spared from the war. Ahead of each storm, the Mukalla center does its best to warn residents of the danger via radio and Whatsapp. Hamed says his office could save far more lives if it was supported with advanced equipment.
Saeed Al-Batati, 'In Yemen, cities spared from war fall prey to climate change', Asia Times
