A powerful cyclone began buffeting Oman on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from Masirah Island in the Arabian Sea and closing the country's main gas export terminal.The Arabian Sea's most powerful storm in modern times has the potential to cause the complete destruction of mobile homes, major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore, and prompt a massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 10km, according to experts. A weather service official told Oman state television Tropical Cyclone Gonu, which earlier reached the equivalent of a maximum-force Category Five hurricane, was expected to be worse than one that hit Masirah Island in 1977.