New Delhi: After churning across the Arabian Sea for more than 10 days, Cyclone Biparjoy has begun making landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat's Kutch district, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported Thursday evening. Agencies are on high alert after severe weather hit the shores of Kutch and Saurashtra, including winds of up to 145 kph and heavy rainfall.
By midnight, everything will have settled on land. After receiving an early warning from the IMD about the "extensive damaging potential" of the cyclone, authorities have evacuated approximately one lakh people from susceptible locations.
Relief and rescue efforts have been bolstered by the deployment of 15 National Disaster Response Force teams, 12 State Disaster Response Force teams, and personnel from the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard, and Border Security Force.
The Meteorological Department had already issued a red alert for the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi, and Junagarh, predicting very heavy (11.5–20.4) to extremely heavy (above 20.5) rains.
It wouldn't surprise us if some places got over 25 centimetres of rain. This time of year often does not bring heavy rain to the region. IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had already warned of the potential for flooding in low-lying areas
Experts in meteorology had predicted widespread destruction of crops in progress, homes, roads, electricity and communication poles, and escape routes, all of which were subsequently confirmed.
Massive tides, they said, might flood low-lying districts along the shores of Saurashtra and Kutch.—Inputs from Agencies