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)

The Big Picture, by far the best blog for photojournalism geeks, posted some photographs of the recent flooding in the country of Yemen. In case you don't know, the Republic of Yemen (الجمهورية اليمنية) is an Arab country located on the south-west corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The floods started on October 23rd, and were a result of the 2008 Yemen Cyclone, aka Deep Depression ARB 02/2008. At least 1,700 homes were reported destroyed, along with 180 deaths and over $1 billion USD in damages.

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

The mystical city photographed here is the ancient city of Shibam (شبام‎), famous for its mud brick tower houses which are between 5 and 11 stories high. Known as the "Manhattan of the desert," the town was threatened by the major flooding, though it remains largely intact with the exception of a few houses which unfortunately toppled over.

Photographs courtesy of The Big Picture, posted without commercial intent.