Severe cyclone heading toward southern India; 6 dead

  • A police officer holds an umbrella to protect himself from the rain as he enforces a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, May 16, 2021. A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least four people, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
  • Fishing boats that stayed off the Arabian Sea due to Cyclone Tauktae are anchored in the backwaters in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, May 16, 2021. A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least four people, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
  • Policemen enforcing a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus stand beneath a rain shelter in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, May 16, 2021. A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least four people, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
  • Fishing boats that stayed off the Arabian Sea due to Cyclone Tauktae are anchored in the backwaters in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, May 16, 2021. A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least four people, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
  • Relatives of a person who died of reasons other than COVID-19 perform rituals in Periyar river during heavy rains in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Saturday, May 15, 2021. With cyclonic storm "Tauktae" intensifying over the Arabian Sea, the southern state is receiving heavy rains amid a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
  • An ambulance rushes towards a hospital through a deserted flyover during a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Saturday, May 15, 2021. With cyclonic storm "Tauktae" intensifying over the Arabian Sea, the southern state has been receiving heavy rains. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
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India Cyclone

A police officer holds an umbrella to protect himself from the rain as he enforces a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, May 16, 2021. A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least four people, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
·2 min read

NEW DELHI (AP) — A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least six people, officials said Sunday.

Cyclone Tauktae, the season’s first major storm, is expected to make landfall early Tuesday in Gujarat state, a statement by the India Meteorological Department said.

The massive storm will likely hamper India’s fight against a coronavirus surge that's sweeping the country with devastating death tolls, as virus lockdown measures may slow relief work and damage from the storm could potentially destroy roads and cut vital supply lines.

In areas along the Arabian Sea coast, four people were killed and 73 villages badly damaged on Sunday, according to the southwestern Karnataka state's disaster management authority.

A woman was killed when a coconut tree fell on her and a man riding a scooter was hit by an uprooted electric pole in the western state of Goa lashed by stormy winds and heavy rains, said Pramod Sawant, the state's top elected official.

Nearly 2,500 government rescuer workers have been deployed in six states on Cyclone Tauktae's path — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa — equipped with wireless radios, satellite phones, cutters and tools needed for post-cyclone operations.

The storm, moving at a speed of 11 kph (7 mph), was currently 660 kilometers (410 miles) south-southeast of Veraval in Gujarat state, the India Meteorological Department said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed with officials the preparedness of states to deal with the cyclone, a government statement said.

The region is no stranger to devastating cyclones, but changing climate patterns have caused them to become more intense, rather than more frequent.

Last cyclone season, K.J. Ramesh, the former chief of India’s weather agency, said the increased ferocity of the storms is caused by the temperature of the sea’s surface. Warm ocean water is where storms get their energy, and the amount of heat trapped in the top 700 meters (2,300 feet) of the seas has increased.

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(CIRA/RAMMB) Additional strengthening is expected from Cyclonic Storm Tauktae as it tracks along the western coast of India and toward the Kathiawar Peninsula in the state of Gujarat. The storm is expected to be equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale as it makes landfall on Tuesday morning, local time. As the storm has been intensifying off the coast over the weekend, the outer rainbands have lashed the coastal areas of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra with heavy rainfall, gusty winds and rough seas. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Before Tauktae was even classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, the strengthening storm dumped a "large excess" of rainfall across portions of the Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka on Saturday, according to the IMD. Some locations received as much as 150 mm (6 inches) of rain in just 24 hours. At least 10 deaths have been blamed on the cyclone across the western states of India. 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Depending on the track of the storm, parts of Pakistan could also feel impacts. Tauktae can bring an area of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) of rain to these areas leading to the threat for flooding, mudslides and washed-out roads. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 600 mm (24 inches) is possible in the heaviest and most persistent rain bands. "Tauktae is expected to make landfall over southern Gujarat late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, local time," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert. The strongest winds from Tauktae are expected across the Kathiawar Peninsula as the storm makes landfall. Wind gusts can reach as high as 160-190 km/h (100-120 mph) with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 210 km/h (130 mph) possible. Much of southern and western Gujarat could see these impacts resulting in the loss of power and water for several days or longer. Tauktae will also continue to stir up rough surf along the coasts of western India and Pakistan as it spins over the Arabian Sea and gains additional intensity. The timing of the storm amid the COVID-19 outbreak, even if it doesn't make a direct strike, is not good news for India. In the past month, India has reported more than 10 million new COVID-19 cases and more than 87,000 fatalities. It has pulled into the second spot globally behind the United States with a pandemic total of more than 23.7 million cases. The western state of Maharashtra has reported more than 5.2 million of those cases, which is more than any other state or province worldwide. Western Maharashtra is one area that can receive heavy rain from the cyclone. This satellite image of Cyclonic Storm Tauktae shows the eye of the storm just off the coast of western India on Sunday afternoon, local time. (CIRA/RAMMB) Amid the worsening health crisis, India has been regularly setting daily records of more than 400,000 new cases that have also turned into global records. The current world record of 414,188 daily cases was set in the country on May 6, 2021. The record high for daily deaths in the country was 4,205 on May 11. India's death toll since the pandemic began is more than 270,000, which is third behind Brazil (more than 430,000) and the U.S. (more than 584,000), according to Johns Hopkins University. Many of the new cases have been brought on by a variant of the virus, which is said to be highly contagious. The World Health Organization recently labeled this mutation as a variant of concern and said it poses a global health risk, CNBC reported. Mass gatherings and religious festivals that drew millions of people in recent weeks have been cited as a key factor in the spread. The cyclone is forecast to track across northwestern India and bring a dose of heavy rain and gusty winds across western Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and eastern Pakistan during the middle and end of this week. Residents should continue to monitor the situation and heed local warnings. With the ongoing COVID-19 surge, it may take extra time to prepare for the storm and make any needed precautions. AccuWeather Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls warns that additional tropical development in the Indian Ocean is possible through the end of May. The season for tropical activity has no bounds in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, said Nicholls, but it does have two peaks. "The first of the two peaks in the calendar year is during the pre-monsoon period of April to June, and the second is after the monsoon, from September to December," Nicholls explained. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.

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