Storm-battered Yemen

Last weekend heavy storms crashed through Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world. The wind, rain and lightning killed a number people initiallly, but the subsequent flooding took a much larger toll, in both lives and property. The hard-hit Hadramaut region is home to the ancient walled city of Shibam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, nicknamed the "Manhattan of the desert". The structures in Shibam and neighboring villages are mud-brick construction, and were damaged badly by the rain and flooding, many collapsing when their foundations were undercut. The World Health Organization has estimated that 180 people have died, mostly in building collapses, though that number is likely to change as debris is cleared away. (22 photos total)

A file photo from April 2007 handed out by the Aga Khan Award for architecture shows the ancient city of Shibam, Yemen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and and one of three major urban centres in Wadi Hadramaut. Heavy rains swept through Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramaut, which has now been declared a disaster zone, local officials said on October 24,2008. (ANNE DE HENNING/AFP/Getty Images)

The damage seen from a helicopter above the Hadramaut Valley, Yemen on Saturday Oct.25, 2008, where at least 49 people were killed by floods sweeping through southern Yemen after a massive tropical storm slammed into the impoverished country. (AP Photo/Abdul Aziz Omar) #

An aerial view shows the flood waters following two days of storms in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut on October 25, 2008. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Collapsed buildings are seen surrounded by flood waters in a town in the Yemeni province of Hadramaut on October 25, 2008. Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen today after floods killed scores of people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms. Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Ninety-year-old Yemeni man, Jamaan Hamid Huwaidi, walks in front of four collapsed houses that belong to his family in the village Mishtah in the eastern Yemeni Hadramaut valley on October 27, 2008. President Ali Abdullah Saleh allocated yesterday 100 million dollars in aid to flood-hit areas of southeast Yemen. Rescue teams, chiefly using military helicopters, were continuing operations to help people affected by the flood, especially in isolated villages. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Collapsed houses are seen in Dhamir Nahar village in southeastern Yemen October 27, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Travellers are stranded after the collapse of a bridge in the southeastern Yemeni valley of Sayoun October 25, 2008.(REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

A Yemeni family searches for possessions amid the rubble of their collapsed house following two days of heavy storms in the village Mishtah in the eastern Yemeni Hadramaut valley on October 27, 2008. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Yemeni man gestures towards the historical city of Shibam in Hadramaut province of eastern Yemen on October 28, 2008, damaged by ferocious storms. Many other people are still missing and thousands are without shelter, a government official said. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

An aerial picture shows damaged buildings in the ancient city of Shibam, in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut on October 25, 2008 following two days of fierce storms in the area. Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Locals stand in a flooded area near a washed-out road in the southeastern Yemeni valley of Sayoun October 25, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Residents gather at the site of collapsed houses in the oil-rich Sah district in southeastern Yemen October 27, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Buildings in the ancient city of Shibam are seen in the southeastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut, October 28, 2008. Shibam largely survived a devastating flood that hit southeastern Yemen destroying hundreds of mud houses and leaving dozens of people dead or missing. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Houses damaged by floods are seen near receding floodwaters in the southeastern Yemeni valley of Sayoun October 25, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Travellers are seen stranded after the collapse of a bridge in the southeastern Yemeni valley of Sayoun October 25, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Silt and mud cover the land around damaged homes following two days of storms in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut on October 25, 2008. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Residents of the historic city of Shibam, Yemen, flee as a two-story mud brick house disintegrates, its foundations undermined by flood water, following a massive tropical storm which slammed into the impoverished country Saturday Oct. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Abdul Aziz Omar) #

Yemenis search for their belongings amid the rubble collapsed houses following two days of heavy storms in the village Mishtah in the eastern Yemeni Hadramaut province on October 27, 2008. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

The ancient city of Shibam is seen in this aerial photograph in the southeastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut, October 28, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

Yeminis walk past destroyed buildings and flood waters in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut on October 25, 2008, following two days of storms. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Yemeni boy rests on the rubble of his collapsed home in the historical city of Shibam in Hadramaut province of eastern Yemen on October 28, 2008. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Several buildings are seen inside the city of Shibam, Yemen on a clear day following a recent encounter with severe storms and flooding on October 28, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah) #

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