Rare cyclone poses new worries for war-torn Yemen

(CNN)— War-weary citizens in Yemen are now facing a
danger of a different kind: one of the strongest storms
the region has ever experienced.
Tropical Cyclone Chapala is barreling toward Yemen's
coastline, bringing the threat of fierce winds and
potentially several times the amount of rainfall that the
impoverished country usually gets in an entire year.
The storm -- the second strongest ever recorded in the
Arabian Sea -- is expected to make landfall on Yemen's
central coast early Tuesday local time.
Chapala was packing maximum sustained winds of 195
kilometers per hour (120 mph) Monday, but it's expected
to weaken somewhat as it gets closer to the dry air of
the Arabian Peninsula.
The storm is still forecast to pack a punch when it hits
Yemen with the strength of a Category 1 hurricane. And
the major concern is the extraordinary volume of rain
it's going to dump on the country's dry, rugged terrain.