ISLAMABAD (AFP)
A powerful cyclone that battered Pakistan's coastal area has weakened and entered Iran, Pakistan's meteorological department said Wednesday.
Cyclone Yemyin lashed coastal towns in southwestern Baluchistan and southern Sindh provinces killing at least 18 people, but the storm had now weakened, the department's chief said.
Cyclone Yemyin packed winds of up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour when it made landfall over Baluchistan Tuesday, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes, officials said.
The provincial government's spokesman, Raziq Bugti, told AFP roads were damaged and villages were inundated in Pasni and Gwadar districts, where relief agencies evacuated about 10,000 people to safety.
"Water is receding now and the situation is improving," Bugti said.
Yemyin barreled in just three days after a violent storm last weekend killed at least 235 people in the southern port city of Karachi and sparsely-populated Baluchistan.
Cyclone Yemyin is the second major storm of the north Indian Ocean cyclone season after Cyclone Gonu hit Oman, Iran and parts of southwestern Pakistan in early June, killing more than 60 people.
