An “extremely severe” cyclone is set to batter some coastal areas of India and Pakistan this week, prompting authorities to start moving thousands of people to safer places.
(Bloomberg) — An “extremely severe” cyclone is set to batter some coastal areas of India and Pakistan this week, prompting authorities to start moving thousands of people to safer places.
The wind speed during the storm, named Biparjoy, could rise to as high as 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour, according to the India Meteorological Department. It’s expected to cross India’s Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts on Thursday, the bureau said.
The region has been witnessing extreme weather events, with scientists blaming climate change for a rise in the frequency of cyclones, heat waves, floods and droughts.
The expected landfall area along India’s west coast is where major ports and refineries are located. The IMD has urged operators to take necessary precautions. Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd. has suspended its operations since Saturday. A force majeure has been declared at Sikka due to the approaching storm, shipping agent GAC said in a statement.
India’s weather bureau advised authorities to evacuate people from coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat, while Alok Kumar Pandey, the state’s relief commissioner, said that people living in mud houses within 10 kilometers of the coast will be moved to temporary shelters.
Pakistan is shifting more than 80,000 people from coastal cities in Sindh, besides moving the residents of at least 70 dangerous buildings in Karachi to safer places, according to Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of the province.
Heavy rains are likely in some areas of Gujarat, one of India’s biggest producers of cotton and peanuts, for three days through Friday, according to the weather department. The storm will be intense enough to damage crops, plantations, trees, mud houses and communication and electricity poles, as well as the railway signaling system, it said.
The Indian Air Force said its helicopters were on standby for relief operations, while aircraft and equipment based at possible impact areas and susceptible to damage had been relocated to safer places. The National Disaster Response Force has deployed 12 teams, according to an official release.
Biparjoy revives the memory of a powerful storm that tore through an oil field off the coast of Mumbai in May 2021 and killed at least 70 people.
–With assistance from Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Rajesh Kumar Singh, P R Sanjai, Devidutta Tripathy, Ismail Dilawar, Jack Wittels, Alex Longley and Brian Wingfield.
(Updates with force majeure at Sikka in fourth paragraph.)
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