© EPAA Nasa photo of Cyclone Chapala moving towards Yemen, followed less than a week later by Cyclone Megh - an unprecedented double whammy!
At least two people killed as rare storm, Cyclone Chapala, destroys homes and forces evacuations on Socotra island.The first ever cyclone (hurricane) to make landfall on the Arabian peninsula has already started wreaking havoc in Yemeni waters, killing at least three people and injuring about 100 on the island of Socotra as it tracks steadily towards the country's coastline.
Cyclone Chapala, which has formed in the Arabian Sea, destroyed more than 100 homes on the island on Sunday, as it also uprooted trees and sank fishing boats, sources told Al Jazeera.
The US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) reports that Chapala is expected to make landfall at about 06:00 GMT on Tuesday morning.
The JTWC reported that the storm system was tracking a path that would take it close to the Yemeni port city of Mukalla, which has a population of about 300,000 people.
"The cyclone is the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds of 195 km/h, gusting 240 km/h," Al Jazeera's meteorologist Steff Gaulter explained.
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Additional coverage of the storm from 9news.com.au