Cyclone Kyarr: Fujairah hotel closes beach as waves smash windows and flood restaurant

Strong waves wash away umbrellas and sunbeds as the East Coast bears the brunt of the Indian Ocean storm

“The glass was destroyed and shattered due to the strong waves - all of the chairs and tables were washed away during the storm,” said Miramar general manager Ashraf Helmy

Despite the disruption, he said the guests "are enjoying the view of the high waves"

Storm surge waters have hit east coast towns in the UAE and Oman in recent days, causing schools in some areas to close

Kyarr is the strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea in 12 years, second only to the category 5 Cyclone Gonu that ravaged the coast in 2007

The hotel had to close its Bahari Grill restaurant due to the damage

“The seawater took many of our umbrellas, sunbeds and wooden partitions that were ‎placed on the beach and destroyed our beach restaurant,” said Mr Helmy

The damage so far has been from the periphery of the storm; Kyarr's epicentre is still several hundred kilometres from the Emirati and Omani coasts

Waves broke the hotel's wooden railing and swept the debris away

Latest: Emirati towns set for relief as Cyclone Kyarr heads for southern Oman

A Fujairah hotel was forced to close its beach when crashing waves swept away sunbeds and smashed through a restaurant's glass windows.

The Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort said its beach remained closed on Wednesday while debris was cleared and high waves continued.

Storm surge waters have hit east coast towns in the UAE and Oman in recent days, causing schools in some areas to close.

Ashraf Helmy, general manager of the Miramar, estimated hundreds of thousands of dirhams worth of damage was caused.

“The weather started to change on Monday night and on Tuesday we closed the beach due to the unstable weather," he said, describing the waves as "metres-high".

“The seawater took many of our umbrellas, sunbeds and wooden partitions that were ‎placed on the beach and destroyed our beach restaurant,” said Mr Helmy.

The hotel had to close its Bahari Grill restaurant due to the damage.

“The glass was destroyed and shattered due to the strong waves - all of the chairs and tables were washed away during the storm,” he said.

Despite the disruption, he said the guests "are enjoying the view of the high waves".

“We are running in full occupancy and we haven't received any cancellations yet for the weekend," he said.

"We are working on reopening the beach Thursday or Friday depending on the weather forecast."

Kyarr is the strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea in 12 years, second only to the category 5 Cyclone Gonu that ravaged the coast in 2007.

The damage so far has been from the periphery of the storm; Kyarr's epicentre is still several hundred kilometres from the Emirati and Omani coasts.