- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Sattwik Biswal
FOUR people were killed in Gujarat as Cyclone Tauktae pounded parts of the state and left behind a trail of destruction along the western coast, officials said on Tuesday (18).
The landfall process of the eye of the extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae, which hit the Gujarat coast in Saurashtra region between Diu and Una, ended around midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
It crossed the Gujarat coast as an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” and gradually weakened.
On Tuesday (18) morning, it lay over the Saurashtra region near Amreli as a “very severe cyclonic storm,” the IMD said.
Even as the cyclonic intensity weakened, it left behind a trail of destruction, with at least four people losing their lives- one each in Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Patan and Valsad, according to officials.
The wind intensity reduced to 115-125 kmph gusting up to 135 kmph, as the cyclone lay 10 km south of Amreli and around 95 km north-northeast of Diu, the IMD said in its morning bulletin.
It was likely to move further north-north eastwards and gradually weaken into a “severe cyclonic storm” during the next three hours, the IMD said.
“Due to the cyclone, most places of Gujarat and Saurashtra meteorological regions of the state are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall on Tuesday, with heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places in these areas,” it said.
The wind speed is likely to decrease during the day, it said, adding that “astronomical high” tidal waves would continue to inundate the area, it added.
At least four deaths due to the cyclone were officially confirmed so far.
An official of the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said three of the casualties were reported due to falling of walls following heavy rains and strong winds.
The deceased included one each from Rajkot, Valsad and Bhavnagar, one of the worst affected district by the cyclone in the state.
Besides, an electric pole fell on a woman while she was sleeping in Patan town late Monday (17) night amid strong wind, an official from Patan A-division police station said.
Several areas in the coastal regions of Gujarat plunged into darkness on Monday night due to power outage, while a large number of trees, electric poles and mobile towers got uprooted amid the high speed winds.
Temporary structures were also destroyed in the strong wind, while heavy rainfall in the affected regions caused flooding and tree falls led to blocked roads.
Army personnel and other rescue teams immediately swung into action to clear the roads by removing trees and poles, and restoring damaged structures.
The cyclone hit the coast between Diu and Una around 9 pm on Monday and ended around midnight, the IMD said. Prior, the state government had shifted over two lakh people to safer locations before the cyclone hit the Gujarat coast.
A major cyclone in Gujarat on June 9, 1998, had brought widespread death and destruction in its wake, particularly in the port town of Kandla.
