Global Courant
AHMEDABAD, India/KARACHI – Roofs were blown off houses and trees and power poles uprooted, leaving thousands without power as a severe cyclone made landfall and rain lashed both Indian and Pakistani coasts on Friday.
In India’s western state of Gujarat, at least two people have been killed after being swept away by flooding just before the cyclone hit.
In India and Pakistan, more than 180,000 people have been evacuated in recent days as authorities braced for the cyclone, dubbed Biparjoy, which means “disaster” or “mischief” in the Bengali language.
It made landfall late Thursday near Jakhau, a port in Gujarat that is close to the border with Pakistan, meteorologists said.
Biparjoy had weakened to a cyclonic storm from a severe cyclonic storm on Friday morning, India’s Meteorological Department said in its latest bulletin, with speeds falling from 105 km to 85 km.
Wind speeds are likely to decrease further by midday, the bulletin said.
Two men, both herders, were killed in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district on Thursday night as they tried to save their livestock from being swept away during heavy rains and flooding, the cyclone’s control room said.
Power went out in many places in Gujarat’s Kutch district due to strong winds, said Mr. Amit Arora, a top district official who oversees rescue operations.
In neighboring Pakistan, the cyclone did not have a major impact, with rain reported in some parts of the southern metropolis of Karachi on high alert.
Pakistan’s weather department advised local authorities to remain alert to expected heavy rains in some coastal areas until Saturday.
Strong winds uprooted hundreds of trees in Gujarat’s coastal areas, and heavy rains damaged power poles, leaving thousands without power on Friday, local officials said.
India’s weather department warned of heavy to very heavy rains in Gujarat and the neighboring state of Rajasthan through Friday.
Pakistan’s weather department said moderate to heavy rainfall was expected in the Hyderabad, Nooriabad and Thatta regions.
Biparjoy weakened after hitting land with winds from 85 mph to 115 mph, Mr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of India Meteorological Department earlier on Friday.
Local television showed images of uprooted trees, people sheltering from strong winds and debris littered roads in the aftermath of the cyclone.
Biparjoy was classified as a Category One storm, the least severe on a scale of one to five.
The government had instructed all offshore oil installations to ensure all personnel go ashore immediately and advised ports to also take preventive measures, but there was no word on how the landfall had affected operations, if at all . REUTERS
