Tauktae makes landfall in Gujarat

Mumbai, May 17

A very severe cyclonic storm with winds gusting up to 185 km per hour began making landfall on the Gujarat coast Monday night, after dumping heavy rains on Mumbai, forcing the evacuation of over 1.5 lakh people in Gujarat and leaving two barges with over 400 people on board adrift in the Arabian Sea.

Tropical storm “Tauktae”, which had intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm, lies close to the Gujarat coast, the IMD said. “The landfall process has started and will continue during next two hours,” the IMD said.Six persons were killed in Maharashtra’s Konkan region in separate incidents related to the severe cyclonic storm and three sailors remained missing after two boats sank in the sea, officials said. Three persons died in Raigad district, a sailor in Sindhudurg district and two persons were killed in Navi Mumbai and Ulhasnagar in Thane district after trees fell on them.

Two boats with seven sailors on board, anchored in the Anandwadi harbour in Sindhudurg district capsized, an official statement said.

• 185 km per hour Wind speed
• 1.5 lakh evacuated in Gujarat
• 17 Covid patients in Porbandar civil Hospital shifted
• 55 flights cancelled at Mumbai airport

As the cyclone moved past the Maharashtra coast in the morning, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport initially announced the suspension of operations from 11 am to 2 pm and later decided to keep all operations shut till 8 pm.

Over 1.5 lakh people were shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat, while 54 teams of the NDRF and SDRF remained deployed, an official said.

At least 17 Covid-19 patients on ventilator support in the Porbandar Civil Hospital’s ICU were shifted to other facilities on Monday as a precautionary measure because of Cyclone Tauktae, which is heading towards the Gujarat coast, an official said. The Centre has offered all help to Gujarat to deal with the cyclone and asked the Army, Navy and the Air Force to remain on standby to assist the administration if the need arises, the Gujarat Government said. Winds blew at 114 kmph in Mumbai on Monday afternoon as the cyclonic storm passed close to the Mumbai coast, civic officials said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday took stock of the situation in Mumbai. — PTI