Gujarat braces for Cyclone Asna, heavy rain batters Saurashtra-Kachchh region
By Team Asianet Newsable | First Published Aug 30, 2024, 10:03 AM ISTCyclones in the Arabian Sea during August are extremely rare. Only three such storms have been recorded between 1891 and 2023, with the last occurrence in 1976. The 1976 cyclone developed over Odisha, crossed into the Arabian Sea, and eventually weakened near the Oman coast.
Heavy rain lashed Gujarat's Saurashtra-Kachchh region as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that a deep depression in the area was likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and hit the coast on Friday. According to the IMD, the deep depression centred over Kutch and Saurashtra, Gujarat, is expected to deepen into a cyclonic storm as it moves west-southwest and emerges over the northeast Arabian Sea near the beaches of Kutch and neighbouring Pakistan.
The deep depression will be called Cyclone Asna, a name suggested by Pakistan, when it intensifies into a cyclonic storm, it said. While the authorities continue their rescue and relief efforts, Vadodara and some other portions of the state continue to be in flood-like conditions due to overflowing rivers. The situation in other parts of rain-stricken Gujarat has somewhat improved.
DD over Saurashtra & Kachchh moved slowly SW during past 6 hours and lay centered at 1730 hours IST of today, the 29th August, 2024 over the same region near lat 23.6°N and long 69.2 °E, 70 km WNW of Bhuj (Gujarat), 50 km NE of Naliya (Gujarat) and 250 km ESE of Karachi.
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept)Latest Videos
Rain-related incidents have claimed the lives of 32 people in four days till Thursday.
As per the information released by the Gujarat government, there was a minimum of one death in each of the following districts: Aravalli, Dwarka, Panchmahal, Dang, Bharuch, Morbi, and Vadodara; six in Anand; five in Ahmedabad; three in Mahisagar and Jamnagar; and two each in Gandhinagar, Kheda, Mahisagar, Dahod, and Surendranagar.
Over 32,000 individuals have been moved, and over 1,200 people have been saved from the state's flood-affected districts. According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC)'s most recent bulletin, the security forces have occasionally utilised helicopters to transport people to safer areas.
In the upcoming days, there should be some relief from the deluges of rain, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Within the most devastated districts of Vadodara, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot, and Kachchh, teams from the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), its state equivalent, SDRF, and local administration are involved in relief and rescue activities.
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