Shareefa bint Khalfan, Omani minister of social development, said more than 20,000 people were evacuated and housed in government-provided dwellings stocked with medicine and supplies. Police said a body washed ashore in the coastal city of Sur, and there were reports of people trapped in homes in low-lying areas of the capital.

Oman's eastern provinces were cut off, with heavy rains making the roads unusable and communication lines severed. "We have no communication with them, nothing," said a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity as is customary for security officials in Oman.

The potential for flash flooding was high in Oman and in neighboring countries like the United Arab Emirates, as rain washes down from mountains into the desert wadis, or dry riverbeds, that cut through the desert. Another potential worry are landslides and mud slides when the normally arid mountains get lashed with rain.

In Iran, authorities evacuated hundreds of people living in the port city of Chabahr on the coast of the Sea of Oman, believed to be next in the cyclone's path.

Iranian state television said floods caused by the heavy rainfall had cut off some major roads in southeastern Iran and winds gusting up to 69 mph had buffeted coastal areas.

"University and school students were moved to higher ground in the area to avoid the cyclone effects," said Hojjat Ali Shayanfar, head of emergency services in Sistan Baluchistan province.

Outer winds from the storm lashed the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, shattering windows, toppling billboards and trees, residents said.

Iranian officials said, however, that the cyclone was unlikely to threaten the country's oil platforms and installations in the Gulf because they are located far from its path.

"All Iranian offshore oil platforms in the Persian Gulf are working based on their schedule without any interruption," Bahram Narimanian, spokesman of Iran's Offshore Oil Company, told the AP. "However, we have prepared for any possible difficulty."

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