The state of Gujarat is preparing for the strongest cyclone that has hit the region for over twenty years. India, where nearly 150,000 people were evacuated from their homes and authorities closed ports and the main airport.
Cyclone Tauktae, the strongest in more than two decades, is approaching the area.
At least 12 people have lost their lives so far from this cyclone in the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, as broadcast by AMPE.
Tauktae is expected to arrive in Gujarat today from 20:00 to 23:00 local time (17:30 to 20:30 Greek time), accompanied by winds of 155 to 165 kilometers per hour and gusts that may to reach 185 kilometers per hour, as warned by the Indian Meteorological Service.
“He will be the strongest cyclone that has hit Gujarat for at least 20 years. “It can be compared to the cyclone in 1998 that hit Kandla and caused serious damage,” said State Revenue Minister Pankaz Kumar.
India’s financial capital, Mumbai, has been hit by heavy rainfall and strong winds as Tauktae heads north. Stormy winds forced the city airport authorities to suspend its operation, while some roads were closed.
In addition to the 12 dead found in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, 28 fishing boats are missing, the coast guard said.
Preparations in Gujarat
The Gujarat government has asked nearly 150,000 people living in coastal areas to flee their homes and has deployed more than 50 disaster relief teams.
They also had to be transported from hospitals 5 km from the coast and patients with covid-19. Authorities are trying to avoid any power outages at some 400 hospitals and 41 oxygen plants in the 12 coastal areas most affected by the cyclone.
“It simply came to our notice then the hospitals where patients with covid-19 are treated will not experience power outages, 1,383 generators have been installedSaid Pankaz Kumar. Also, 35 “green corridors” have been created for the transport of oxygen to hospitals, he added.
In the state of Gujarat, where 9,000 deaths from covid-19 have been officially recorded – although experts estimate that the actual death toll is much higher – the immunization campaign has been suspended for two days.
The authorities, after all are worried about Asian lions living in the state, an endangered species found only in the Saurastra area of ​​Gujarat, where the cyclone blow is expected to be particularly severe.
“There are about 40 lions in some parts of the coastal city of Saurastra and we are watching them. Some of them have already moved to higher altitudes. We hope for the best and pray that the lions are safe, “said Siamal Tikdar, head of the state’s forest protection service.
The 1998 hurricane that struck Gujarat killed at least 4,000 people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage.
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