Oman recovers after rare cyclone THE ASSOCIATED PRESSDUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- An important desalination plant supplying water to Oman's capital regained most of its production capacity, easing a water shortage caused by a rare cyclone that slammed the Mideast country last week, officials and news reports said Tuesday.Cyclone Gonu, the strongest and deadliest storm to hit Oman in decades, killed at least 49 people and caused an export slowdown in the country's important oil industry.Officials said Oman lost more than $200 million in oil revenues when exports were halted by the storm, which lashed parts of the country with powerful surf, heavy rains and winds of more than 100 mph, according to Kuwait's state-run news agency KUNA.Water and electricity was restored to most of Muscat, said Seif al-Shabibi, an official at the ministry of housing, electricity and water.The Ghubrah desalination plant, which supplies a large portion of the capital with drinking water, was restored to 90 percent of its capacity, plant manager Allen Conroy said in Tuesday's Oman Daily Observer, a Muscat daily.Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamed al-Rumhy told reporters Tuesday that all oil installations and oil fields in Oman were "running very normally without problems." He said oil exports had been halted only for two days, last Wednesday and Thursday.Oman's weather center has said that Gonu was believed to be the strongest and deadliest storm to strike Oman since 1977, when 500 people were killed.