'Tauktae' now very severe cyclonic storm, to reach Gujarat coast: IMD

Around 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat while 54 teams of the NDRF and SDRF remained deployed after IMD’s warning that Tauktae will reach the state coast on Monday evening and cross it Tuesdaymorning.

PTI
May 17, 2021 / 09:48 AM IST

Cyclone Tauktae LIVE Updates | Fishing boats that stayed off the Arabian Sea due to Cyclone Tauktae are anchored in the backwaters in Kochi, Kerala, May 16, 2021. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)


Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving six people dead, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation in low-lying areas.

Mumbai is expected to see heavy rainfall today. In view of the storm, the city has shifted over 500 Covid patients from its jumbo centres. The cyclone is expected to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of Gujarat. Extremely heavy rainfall is predicted in Junagadh and Gir Somnath and heavy to very heavy rain at a few places in the districts of Saurashtra, Kutch and Diu, namely Gir Somnath, Diu, Junagadh, Porbandar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Amreli, Rajkot, and Jamnagar.

Cyclonic storm to intensify further during the next 24 hours

Close

Very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae is very likely to intensify further during next 24 hours. It is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) around 18 May early morning: IMD

Cyclone Tauktae intensifies after ploughing through coastal Kerala, Karnataka, Goa

Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.

Four deaths have been reported from Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts in cyclone-related incidents.