Cyclonic storm Tauktae makes landfall in Gujarat; wrecks Mumbai, Karnataka coast

As per the latest IMD data, the cyclone is currently centred in the Arabian Sea around 162 kilometers south- southeast of Diu.

The landfall process has started and will continue during next 2 hours, IMD said. Extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae lies close to the Gujarat coast. 

Winds blew at 114 kmph in Mumbai on Monday afternoon as the extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae was passing close to the Mumbai coast barreling towards Gujarat.

However, as per the Mumbai IMD, the highest wind speed of 108 km per hour was recorded at the Colaba observatory in the afternoon, said Shubhangi Bhute, senior director, IMD Mumbai.

Earlier in the day, the civic body said the wind speed of 114 kmph, the highest during the day, was recorded around 2 pm at its automatic weather station located at Afghan Church in south Mumbai's Colaba area.

At the same time, the Colaba observatory witnessed the wind speed of 108 kmph, the civic body had said.

Bhute said Colaba and Santacruz observatories recorded 184 mm and 186 mm rainfall, respectively, between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm.

Earlier on Monday, the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre said its Colaba observatory recorded a wind speed of 102 kmph around 11 am.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up 60 automatic weather stations across Mumbai for day-to-day monitoring of the climatic conditions in the metropolis.

The Bandra-Worli sea-link was closed for traffic in view of the strong winds and people were asked to take alternate routes, a BMC official said.

Due to the strong winds, some plastic sheets covering the roof of a common passenger area at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai were blown away in the morning.

Under the influence of the extremely severe cyclonic storm, Mumbai and its adjoining districts were lashed by heavy rains and high-speed winds during the day.

According to an official statement, six persons died, while nine others received injuries in storm-related incidents in the coastal region.

Three persons died in Raigad district, while Thane and Sindhudurg districts reported two and one deaths, respectively.

 

High-speed winds uprooted many trees and electricity poles, partially damaged two buildings besides many houses and in Thane and Palghar districts neighbouring Mumbai.

Hoardings fell on the ground at many places. In Kalyan, two persons travelling on a two-wheeler were injured after a huge hoarding fell on them.

A water tank on the terrace of a hospital broke and fell in the afternoon. Also, a power supply line broke and fell on road in Bazarpeth area.
No one was injured in these incidents.

In Thane city, part of a building located in Lokmanya Nagar collapsed in the afternoon following heavy rains.

 

In Mumbra, the slab of a building located in Bhoir compound crumbled. No casualty was reported in both incidents.

In Kalva, also in the Thane district, the main entrance of the Chatrapati Shivaji Hospital collapsed following heavy rains.

In the neighbouring Palghar district, at least 13 houses were partially damaged during the day. 

The Indian Army said it has put 180 teams and nine engineer task forces on standby to face any contingency as cyclone Tauktae is likely to hit the Gujarat coast on Monday evening.

The cyclonic storm will intensify further and reach the Gujarat coast by Monday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The Army said it is continuously monitoring the situation for likely intensity, maximum impact areas and anticipated relief effort in coordination with civil administration, IMD, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and other agencies.

The cyclone's maximum impact is likely to be in Saurashtra region, including Diu.

Ten integrated teams are poised to be employed for aid to the civil administration of Diu.

 

Six persons were killed in Maharashtra's Konkan region in separate incidents related to the severe cyclonic storm 'Tauktae' while three sailors remained missing after two boats sank in the sea.

Two boats anchored at the Anandwadi harbour in Sindhudurg district capsized with seven sailors on board the two vessels. A sailor, identified as Rajaram Kadam hailing from Devgad taluka in the district died in the incident while three others went missing.

The other three sailors are safe.

As of 2pm on Monday, 1,886 houses in Raigad were partially damaged, while five houses were destroyed completely due to the cyclonic storm.

Earlier, minister of state Aditi Tatkare said 2,299 families were shifted to safer places in view of the cyclonic storm in Raigad. The district received 23.42 mm rainfall till 2 pm.

Eight people have lost their lives so far in the cyclone Tauktae-hit coastal and surrounding malnad districts of Karnataka.

According to a situation report by Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority officials, 121 villages in seven districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Belagavi have been affected by the cyclone.

Among the 121 villages affected, a maximum of 48 are from Uttara Kannada district.

Among the eight deaths reported, two each are from Dakshina Kannada and Belagavi, and one each from Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, officials said.

While two deaths have been reported in Dakshina Kannada because of drowning in sea due to a tug being adrift, two died in Belagavi due to house collapse.

A fisherman who went to tie his boat died in Uttara Kannada died as he got hit by another boat, while one person died of electric mishap in Udupi.

The Indian Navy on Monday deployed three of its frontline warships after receiving messages to rescue over 400 people onboard two barges off the Mumbai coast in view of cyclone Tauktae.

The ships deployed to extend assistance to the two barges are INS Kolkata, INS Kochi and INS Talwar.

The cyclonic storm with winds gusting up to 185 km per hour was barreling towards the Gujarat coast Monday, dumping heavy rains on Mumbai, forcing the evacuation of over 1.5 lakh people in Gujarat and leaving two barges with 410 people on board adrift in the Arabian Sea.

Tropical storm 'Tauktae' which has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm was packing wind speeds of about 20 kmph and is expected to reach Gujarat coast by the evening and cross it between 8 pm and 11 pm, the IMD said.

Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Goa as cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray took stock of the situation in Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of the state in the wake of the cyclonic storm.

As Mumbai continued to be battered with heavy rains, over 12,000 citizens were relocated to safer places from the coastal areas. These include 8,380 people in Raigad, 3,896 in Ratnagiri and 144 in Sindhudurg districts.

The Indian Coast Guard said it rescued 12 fishermen stranded around 35 nautical miles off the Kochi coast amid rough seas due to the cyclone on the night of May 16.

Cyclone Tauktae (file photo)