CYCLONE Tauktae, likely to be the strongest to hit the region since 1998, is expected to make landfall tonight in the covid-battered state of Gujarat. The cyclone would subsequently move northwestwards and is likely to affect the Pakistani port city of Karachi as well, a statement by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
"This will be the most severe cyclone to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage," state revenue secretary Pankaj Kumar.
As of now, the “severe cyclone” is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India causing heavy rains, gusty winds and flooding. Several parts of Mumbai and neighbouring areas are witnessing heavy downpour coupled with strong winds up to 120 kilometres per hour.
Police and rescue personnel evacuate a local resident through a flooded street in a coastal area after heavy rains under the influence of cyclone 'Tauktae' in Kochi. (Photo by Arunchandra BOSE / AFP) (Photo by ARUNCHANDRA BOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
The cyclone has already killed eight people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as well.
As the cyclonic storm continues to intensify, efforts are currently underway to save 410 people stranded off the coast in two commercial barges which have gone adrift off the Mumbai coast. Warship INS Kolkata has been sailed to render assistance, PRO Defence Mumbai tweeted.
Cyclone Tauktae is expected to cross the Gujarat coast tonight where it can cause heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated parts of the state. Extremely powerful winds with speed up to 185 kilometres per hour, enough to uproot trees and electricity poles, are expected to hit the state.
Gujarat's state administration has moved nearly 150,000 people from coastal communities and deployed more than 50 disaster response teams. Special arrangements have been made in hospitals treating Covid-19 patients to ensure uninterrupted electricity, the government said. Hundreds of ambulances have been kept on standby to shift patients in cases of emergency, as per a local report.
The 1998 cyclone that ravaged Gujarat killed at least 4,000 people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
Apsana Begum
