Global Courant
Cyclone Biparjoy crept past the Arabian Sea at hurricane-force winds and appeared to be heading for the border of Pakistan and India, where authorities have ordered tens of thousands of residents to evacuate before the storm makes landfall on Thursday.
The cyclone, whose name means “disaster” in Bengali, fluctuated between the equivalent of a Category 1 and Category 2 hurricane, with winds ranging from 90 to 100 miles per hour on Wednesday. It is expected to weaken to a strong tropical storm as it approaches the port of Jakhau in India, with winds dropping slightly below 74 mph
Across the wider region, forecasters say the cyclone will bring heavy rainfall and powerful tropical storm-force winds in excess of 60 mph that will extend at least 80 miles from the center of the storm, from western India’s Gujarat state to the port city Karachi. , pakistan. Tide levels are predicted to rise six to three meters above normal in areas near and just south of the cyclone’s center.
On Thursday afternoon, the storm is expected to cross between Keti Bandar, a fishing port nearly 200 miles east of Karachi, and Gujarat’s Kutch district.
Authorities in Gujarat ordered residents living within six miles of the coast to move to safer places. More than 80,000 people in Pakistan were evacuated as authorities ordered businesses and shopping malls to close along the coastline of Karachi, a city of 22 million people.
Authorities prepared for the expected attack days in advance. In the southern coastal areas of Pakistan, thousands of people left their homes for safer ground. Schools and other government buildings were converted into shelters.
“It would be much more difficult and risky to evacuate people once the cyclone reaches the coast,” Syed Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Pakistan’s Sindh province, told the provincial parliament at its meeting on Tuesday. He said the priority was to evacuate the coastal areas of Thatta, Sujawal and Badin.
Sharjeel Memon, the provincial information minister in Sindh, said more than 64,000 people had been evacuated from vulnerable areas by Wednesday morning. Heavy rains and dust storms in coastal areas made evacuations more urgent. Seawater began to seep into the villages, residents said.
Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s climate change minister, said Karachi is likely to experience flooding due to the size and intensity of the winds.
Last year, torrential rains caused widespread urban flooding and damage to the port city, shutting it down for days. At least 31 people were killed, many of whom were electrocuted or drowned after roofs and walls collapsed on them, according to the provincial disaster agency.
Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea have become more frequent in recent decades due to the warming of sea surface temperatures in the region, which are being amplified by a warming climate, according to researchers.
Pakistan, and Sindh province in particular, is still reeling from the devastating floods of 2022, which inundated large parts of the country, killed nearly 1,700 people and displaced a large population.
In India, meteorologists said the cyclone is expected to make landfall near the Kutch district on Thursday afternoon. This is according to a statement from the Meteorological Department of India said roads would be flooded and some homes and crops would be damaged or destroyed.
Television images from the state of Maharashtra, home to the city of Mumbai, showed high waves flooding roads along the coast.
Mohsen Shahedi, an official with India’s National Disaster Response Force, said more than 45,000 people have been evacuated and efforts by the local government to move people to safe shelters will continue through Wednesday evening.
Authorities asked residents to move livestock, close schools and halt fishing. Officials warned residents in northern Gujarat of the possibility of flash floods and landslides.
“The wind is very, very strong and we were scared,” said Bhavesh Mukht, a fisherman in the Kutch district. “After the police started announcing over loudspeakers that people had to move, we left everything behind.”
