Fishing boats anchored at Badhwar park jetty due to formation of Cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, Saturday, May 15, 2021. Photo: PTI/Shashank Parade
Mumbai: The severe cyclonic storm ‘Tauktae’ over the Arabian Sea has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and is expected to reach the Gujarat coast Monday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
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 Tuesday morning.
“The cyclonic storm ‘Tauktae’ has further intensified into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm (ESCS) at 000 UTC and lay centred at 18.5N/71.5E, with a ragged eye,” the IMD tweeted Monday morning.
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm “Tauktae” over Eastcentral Arabian Sea intensified into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm: Cyclone Warning & post landfall outlook for Gujarat & Diu coasts (Red message).https://t.co/nIG8rzj9Vh pic.twitter.com/DAJCsnuRVw
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 17, 2021
“Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Tauktae’ over the East- central Arabian Sea intensified into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm: Cyclone Warning & post-landfall outlook for Gujarat & Diu coasts (Red message),” the IMD tweeted.
Skymet, a private company that provides weather forecast and solutions, said landfall is likely between Gujarat’s Mahuva and Porbandar areas and close to Diu.
“A swathe of 100 km on either side of the anticipated strike always remains vulnerable,” it said.