By Associated Press
MANDVI: Howling gales and crashing waves pounded the coastline of India and Pakistan on Thursday, hours before the landfall of a powerful cyclone that has prompted mass evacuations.
Nearly 150,000 people have fled the predicted path of Cyclone Biparjoy, which means “disaster” in Bengali, with meteorologists warning it could devastate homes and tear down power lines when it lands at around 1200 GMT.
Powerful winds and storm surges were forecast to hammer a 325-kilometre (200-mile) stretch of coast between Mandvi in India’s Gujarat state and Karachi in Pakistan.
A vast swath of western India and neighbouring southern Pakistan that suffered deadly floods last year are bracing for a new deluge as fast-approaching Cyclone Biparjoy whirls toward landfall Thursday. Authorities expect conditions to worsen for two or three days after the cyclone makes landfall in India’s Gujarat.
Officials from the two South Asian countries stood on high alert as the cyclone approached. It’s expected to make landfall near Jakhau port in India’s Kutch district and inundate the area.
In Pakistan, Keti Bandar in the country’s flood-ravaged southern Sindh province, also lies in Biparjoy’s path.
The bazaars and beaches in Mandvi, India, usually a bustling coastal town known for its wooden boat-makers, were deserted Thursday under shutdown orders from the government.
Thousands of people in India were evacuated, bringing the total number of people shifted to relief camps to 75,000.
In Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority chief, Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik, said 73,000 people have been evacuated to safer places so far, and authorities are providing them shelter and food.
The disaster management agency said Thursday that the cyclone was packing sustained winds of up to 120 kph (about 75 mph) and was projected to hit Pakistan’s Sindh province, the site of one of the historic deadly floods last summer.
At least 1,739 people were killed and 33 million were displaced in 2022 when climate-induced floods swept the country, causing $30 billion in damage.
Thursday morning, authorities said that the storm had lost some of its intensity and was expected to have a maximum sustained wind speed of between 115 kph and 125 kph (71 mph to 78 mph), gusting up to 140 kph (87 mph), a slight decrease in predictions a day earlier.
The Indian Meteorological Department said the cyclone was bearing down on Jakhau port, where it is likely to make landfall on Thursday evening.
Like southern Pakistan, large parts of coastal Gujarat have also been experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds. Indian authorities warned that the cyclone, classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm,” has the potential to inflict heavy damage once it makes landfall.
A storm surge of two-to-three meters (two-to-three yards) above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas in the storm’s path. The tides could rise as high as six meters (more than six yards) in some places, the IMD has said.
Cyclone Warning for Saurashtra and Kutch Coasts: RED MESSAGE. VSCS BIPARJOY at 0830IST today near lat 22.6N & long 67.1E, about 170km WSW of Jakhau Port (Gujarat) and 210km West of Devbhumi Dwarka. To cross near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by evening of today as VSCS. pic.twitter.com/iESz82jRRW
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) June 15, 2023
“Elaborate arrangements have been made by us for post-cyclone work like restoration of electricity infrastructure, mobile networks and other infrastructure,” Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency.
A government release said major religious sites in coastal Gujarat such as the Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhoomi Dwarka and Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district will remain closed on Thursday.
A statement from the Indian railways said 76 trains have been cancelled on account of the cyclone.
On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in Azerbaijan on an official visit.
In a tweet the previous day, Sharif said the government had taken all possible measures to ensure the safety of those at risk in the country’s southern Sindh province.
“Preparations have been made to handle any kind of emergency as a result of rains and strong winds in Karachi, while the evacuation of fishermen from the sea and the population on the coastal areas is going on rapidly,” he said.
سمندری طوفان بپر جوائے کے کیٹی بندر سے ٹکراؤ کے امکانات کے باعث تمام متعلقہ حکومتی ادارے لوگوں کے پیشگی ریسکیو یقینی بنا رہے ہیں. میں نے ہدایت کر دی ہے ساحلی علاقوں میں رہنے والے پچاس ہزار سے زائد لوگوں کو حفاظتی مقامات تک پہنچایا جائے جہاں انکو پینے کا صاف پانی اور خوراک کے…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 14, 2023
Pakistani Climate Minister Sherry Rehman advised against panic and said Karachi, the country’s largest city with 20 million people, was safe as the cyclone will not make landfall there, as was feared earlier.
A reporter for The Associated Press saw people moving to safer places in vehicles, indicating they initially ignored government warnings.
Pakistan so far has not issued any appeal for assistance from the United Nations, which said the previous day it was monitoring the situation. Local charities and aid agencies on both sides were helping the displaced people.
Experts say climate change is leading to an increase in cyclones in the Arabian Sea region, making preparations for natural disasters all the more urgent. Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change, although the country’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is less than 1%.
A 2021 study found that the frequency, duration and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea had increased significantly between 1982 and 2019.
In 1998, a cyclone that hit Gujarat state claimed more than 1,000 lives and caused excessive damage. A cyclone that hit Sindh province and the city of Karachi in 1965 killed more than 10,000 people.
MANDVI: Howling gales and crashing waves pounded the coastline of India and Pakistan on Thursday, hours before the landfall of a powerful cyclone that has prompted mass evacuations.
Nearly 150,000 people have fled the predicted path of Cyclone Biparjoy, which means “disaster” in Bengali, with meteorologists warning it could devastate homes and tear down power lines when it lands at around 1200 GMT.
Powerful winds and storm surges were forecast to hammer a 325-kilometre (200-mile) stretch of coast between Mandvi in India’s Gujarat state and Karachi in Pakistan.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
A vast swath of western India and neighbouring southern Pakistan that suffered deadly floods last year are bracing for a new deluge as fast-approaching Cyclone Biparjoy whirls toward landfall Thursday. Authorities expect conditions to worsen for two or three days after the cyclone makes landfall in India’s Gujarat.
Officials from the two South Asian countries stood on high alert as the cyclone approached. It’s expected to make landfall near Jakhau port in India’s Kutch district and inundate the area.
In Pakistan, Keti Bandar in the country’s flood-ravaged southern Sindh province, also lies in Biparjoy’s path.
The bazaars and beaches in Mandvi, India, usually a bustling coastal town known for its wooden boat-makers, were deserted Thursday under shutdown orders from the government.
Thousands of people in India were evacuated, bringing the total number of people shifted to relief camps to 75,000.
In Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority chief, Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik, said 73,000 people have been evacuated to safer places so far, and authorities are providing them shelter and food.
The disaster management agency said Thursday that the cyclone was packing sustained winds of up to 120 kph (about 75 mph) and was projected to hit Pakistan’s Sindh province, the site of one of the historic deadly floods last summer.
At least 1,739 people were killed and 33 million were displaced in 2022 when climate-induced floods swept the country, causing $30 billion in damage.
Thursday morning, authorities said that the storm had lost some of its intensity and was expected to have a maximum sustained wind speed of between 115 kph and 125 kph (71 mph to 78 mph), gusting up to 140 kph (87 mph), a slight decrease in predictions a day earlier.
The Indian Meteorological Department said the cyclone was bearing down on Jakhau port, where it is likely to make landfall on Thursday evening.
Like southern Pakistan, large parts of coastal Gujarat have also been experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds. Indian authorities warned that the cyclone, classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm,” has the potential to inflict heavy damage once it makes landfall.
A storm surge of two-to-three meters (two-to-three yards) above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas in the storm’s path. The tides could rise as high as six meters (more than six yards) in some places, the IMD has said.
Cyclone Warning for Saurashtra and Kutch Coasts: RED MESSAGE. VSCS BIPARJOY at 0830IST today near lat 22.6N & long 67.1E, about 170km WSW of Jakhau Port (Gujarat) and 210km West of Devbhumi Dwarka. To cross near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by evening of today as VSCS. pic.twitter.com/iESz82jRRW
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) June 15, 2023
“Elaborate arrangements have been made by us for post-cyclone work like restoration of electricity infrastructure, mobile networks and other infrastructure,” Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency.
A government release said major religious sites in coastal Gujarat such as the Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhoomi Dwarka and Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district will remain closed on Thursday.
A statement from the Indian railways said 76 trains have been cancelled on account of the cyclone.
On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in Azerbaijan on an official visit.
In a tweet the previous day, Sharif said the government had taken all possible measures to ensure the safety of those at risk in the country’s southern Sindh province.
“Preparations have been made to handle any kind of emergency as a result of rains and strong winds in Karachi, while the evacuation of fishermen from the sea and the population on the coastal areas is going on rapidly,” he said.
سمندری طوفان بپر جوائے کے کیٹی بندر سے ٹکراؤ کے امکانات کے باعث تمام متعلقہ حکومتی ادارے لوگوں کے پیشگی ریسکیو یقینی بنا رہے ہیں. میں نے ہدایت کر دی ہے ساحلی علاقوں میں رہنے والے پچاس ہزار سے زائد لوگوں کو حفاظتی مقامات تک پہنچایا جائے جہاں انکو پینے کا صاف پانی اور خوراک کے…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 14, 2023
Pakistani Climate Minister Sherry Rehman advised against panic and said Karachi, the country’s largest city with 20 million people, was safe as the cyclone will not make landfall there, as was feared earlier.
A reporter for The Associated Press saw people moving to safer places in vehicles, indicating they initially ignored government warnings.
Pakistan so far has not issued any appeal for assistance from the United Nations, which said the previous day it was monitoring the situation. Local charities and aid agencies on both sides were helping the displaced people.
Experts say climate change is leading to an increase in cyclones in the Arabian Sea region, making preparations for natural disasters all the more urgent. Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change, although the country’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is less than 1%.
A 2021 study found that the frequency, duration and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea had increased significantly between 1982 and 2019.
In 1998, a cyclone that hit Gujarat state claimed more than 1,000 lives and caused excessive damage. A cyclone that hit Sindh province and the city of Karachi in 1965 killed more than 10,000 people.
