Like Somalia Needed This: Tropical Storm Causes Death, Destruction

Tropical Storm Sagar hit near Djibouti, on the far western end of
the Gulf of Aden. 

A terrible tropical storm struck Somalia over the weekend, killing at least 16 people and causing widespread destruction.  

Tropical Storm Sagar was reported the strongest tropical storm on record in Somalia. It packed 60 mph winds and heavy rain.

Here in the United States and other developed countries, a storm with 60 mph winds and downpours would cause relatively light damage. Plus, we're used to storms of that caliber.

But poverty-ridden, dry Somalia does not normally get anything near anything like Sagar. This storm made landfall further west than any tropical storm in 52 years or record keeping on the northern Indian Ocean basin, according to the Category 6 blog. 

Tropical Storm Sagar caused flooding in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters 

The storm was able to travel westward threading the needle between Yemen and Somalia in the Gulf of Aden before moving inland over flat, arid areas of far western Somalia.

What's worse, unusual rains hit Somalia in April - causing a lot of damage to agriculture and infrastructure. The April rains also primed the pump for even worse flooding.

Somalia remains an unstable country, with the terrorist group al-Shabab continues to spread terror and misery across that nation. So a tropical cyclone didn't help a lot.

Meanwhile, forecasters say another dangerous tropical storm is threatening to develop and could hit in or near Oman later in the week. It could attain hurricane strength, and also could cause very destructive flash floods in Oman and eastern Yemen later in the week.