Tauktae now an extremely severe cyclonic storm barreling down the western coast
Around 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat, while 54 national and state disaster response teams have been deployed.
FollowCyclone Tauktae, which is currently over the east-central Arabian Sea, has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
Cyclone Tauktae is likely to cross the western coast of Gujarat late Monday evening, the India Meteorological Department has said.
The Indian Air Force had deployed two C-130J and an AN-32 aircraft to transport 167 personnel and 16.5-tonne material of NDRF from Kolkata to Ahmedabad.
Around 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat, while 54 national and state disaster response teams have been deployed.
The IMD said that Cyclone Tauktae is approaching the Gujarat coast at approximately 20 kmph.
The IMD said that moderate to intense spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 90-100 kmph is likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Raigad, Palghar, Mumbai, Thane and Ratnagiri during the next 3 hours.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation announced that the Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai will be closed to commute till further update.
Even operations at Mumbai Airport operations need to be closed from 1100 hours to 1400 hours today.
The cyclone -- the first this year -- has added to the woes of the states already grappling with the second wave of Covid-19.
On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had chaired a review meeting to assess the preparedness of areas in the cyclone's path and directed all authorities to make adequate power backup arrangements in all hospitals, laboratories, vaccine cold chain and other medical facilities.
With the cyclone nearing, the wind speed along and off Gujarat coasts in Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath and Amreli districts is likely to touch 150-160 kmph, gusting to 175 kmph by Tuesday morning.
The sea conditions could be very rough to high along and off the south Gujarat coast from Monday morning and very high to phenomenal from Monday midnight.
A tidal wave of about three metres -- one to 2.5 metres above the astronomical tide -- is predicted to inundate several coastal areas of the state during the landfall.
