Cyclone Biparjoy has now weakened into a ‘severe’ storm and will turn into a depression by today evening. The cyclone made its landfall in Gujarat yesterday evening, bringing heavy rainfall with strong winds and leaving several people injured. It is now on its way to Rajasthan and the weather office has warned of heavy rain in the state too.
The ‘severe’ cyclonic storm Biparjoy lay centred over the Saurashtra-Kutch region and is expected to move northeastwards on Friday with heavy rains in Rajasthan, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest weather bulletin. Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to weaken further by Friday morning and turn into a ‘depression’ by the evening.
The cyclone, which made landfall as a 'very severe cyclonic storm' in Gujarat on Thursday evening, turned into a severe cyclonic storm immediately around midnight. It is still active in the same area as a severe cyclonic storm.
The wind speed will gradually reduce and will become into a cyclonic storm around noon today. By evening, it will further weaken and will turn into a deep depression.
- The intensity of cyclone Biparjoy has been reduced from a ‘very severe’ category to ‘severe’ after the landfall and it will now head towards south Rajasthan by today evening, the weather office said.
- A cattle-rearer and his son died while trying to save their goats stuck in Bhavnagar district, news agency PTI reported on Thursday.
- Cyclone Biparjoy, which made landfall near Gujarat’s near Jakhau around 6.30 pm with wind speeds of 115 to 125 kmph gusting upto 140 kmph, brought heavy rains packed with strong and gusty winds in Gujarat.
- A total power blackout was witnessed in Mandvi town. Many trees were uprooted on the Jakhau-Mandvi road as well as in Mandvi town due to the strong winds. Incessant rain with heavy wind speed lashed Gujarat’s Jamnagar throughout the night. According to IMD officials, heavy rains are expected to continue till evening and isolated extremely heavy rains are also likely in some places.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and enquired about the situation of the state. The PM sought to know the steps taken by the state administration for the safety of wild animals, especially the lions in the Gir forest.
- The IMD has warned of extremely heavy rainfall in Rajasthan on June 16 and 17 as cyclone Biparjoy moves towards the northwest. A red alert has been sounded for Rajasthan’s Barmer district and gusty winds uprooted poles and trees.
- According to MeT, severe rainfall will hit Barmer district after 11 am. According to the Met department, heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Jodhpur and Udaipur divisions on Friday and Saturday due to the cyclone.
- The Western Railway on Thursday announced cancellation of a few more trains as a precautionary measure in view of cyclone Biparjoy over the next three days. A release from the WR said it has cancelled 23 more trains,
short-terminated' (terminated before the usual destination) three trains andshort-originated’ (where trains start their journey from a station farther from the usual starting point) seven trains as a precautionary measure.
- The Gujarat government said 94,000 people had relocated from coastal and low-lying areas to shelter. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel reached the State Emergency Operations Centre in Gandhinagar in the morning and held a meeting with top officials to review the situation as well as steps taken to provide relief to people.
- Eighteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 12 of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and other agencies are on the ground in coastal districts for relief operations. Fishing activities have been suspended till tomorrow, ports are shut and ships are anchored in Gujarat.
- The coastal regions of Pakistan were on high alert on Thursday with over 82,000 people being evacuated to safer places in the southern Sindh province. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the authorities concerned to ensure the relocation of thousands of people from the coastal areas to safer locations as part of the preparedness to deal with the cyclone.
Source: indiatoday
