Cyclone Tauktae Hits Karnataka And Kerala Coast, Mumbai Witnesses Heavy Rainfall| 10 Points

Cyclone Tauktae Update: Winds peaked over Mumbai on Saturday night as the Cyclone and its accompanying storm hit the coast of Kerala and Karnataka. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that Cyclone Tauktae is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and will cross the Gujarat coast in the morning of May 18.

“Severe cyclonic storm Tauktae (It is pronounced as Tau’Te) intensified overnight into very severe cyclonic storm over eastcentral Arabian Sea, said IMD”. 100 rescue teams are deployed for six states – Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Goa.

The NDRF has pre-positioned 42 teams, which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipments etc. in six states and has kept 26 teams on standby.

The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations. Air Force and Engineer task force units of Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment.

The Western Railway has said that many trains will be cancelled/short terminated due to the cyclone warning in coastal Gujarat region on May 17 and May 18.

In a tweet, the IMD said on Sunday morning, “The CS Tauktae lay centred at 2330 IST of 15th May over the Arabian Sea about 170 km southwest of Panjim-Goa, 520 km south of Mumbai. It is very likely to intensify into a VSCS, cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) around 18th May early morning.”

These are the latest updates on Cyclone Tauktae:

1. As the cyclone has hit the Kerala coast, the Southern Naval Command launched a rescue and relief operations on Saturday in Chellanam, south Kochi.

Teams undertook rescue of personnel, provisioning of food and water and shifting of people trapped in houses to relief camps. Helicopters of the Navy and Coast Guard are stationed along the western coast, which is the route of the cyclone. Nine teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed in coastal districts of Kerala. The Indian Air Force has 16 transport aircraft and 18 helicopters on operational readiness along the west coast in preparation for the cyclone, which is expected to cause very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall while travelling northwards from Kerala to Gujarat.

2. Kerala has been witnessing heavy rain and waterlogging in many parts of the state. Some parts have witnessed heavy damage to propertypeople have been evacuated from the coastal areas and relief operation is underway. CM Pinarayi Vijayan in a tweet last night said that the effect of the cyclone will be felt in the state for another 24 hours.

3. The cyclone hit the Karnataka coast on Saturday, informed the state’s home minister. “Cyclone Tauktae has hit the Karnataka coast. Two NDRF teams are there. We are also deploying three SDRF teams. 1,000 people will be working round the clock in three coastal districts of Karnataka,” state home minister Basavaraj Bommai was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

4. Mumbai is experiencing heavy rainfall with high wind speed, officials said. The city’s civic body on Saturday shifted 580 Covid patients from three jumbo centres as a precautionary measure. 

5. Fishing operations over east central and adjoining southeast Arabian Sea and along and off Kerala-Karnataka-Goa-Maharashtra coasts has been suspended and people living in the coastal areas have been advised to evacuate as soon as possible.

6. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has kept 16 transport aircraft and 18 helicopters operation ready as preparation for the cyclone.

7. Cyclone Tauktae intensified into a VSCS, lay centred at 2:30 am today about 150 km southwest of Panjim-Goa, 490 km south of Mumbai, 730 km SSWest of Veraval (Gujarat), to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) around May 18 early morning, IMD said.

8. Goa’s chief minister Pramod Sawant announced in a video message that has activated its lifesaving machinery on beaches to tackle the situation in view of the cyclone.

9. Fishermen have been asked to avoid heading to Arabian Sea till Tuesday, tourism activities have been restricted and necessary precautions have been advised for naval operations. the National Disaster Management Authority has also put out a list of do’s and dont’s.

10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Saturday to review the preparedness to deal with the situation arising out of Cyclone ‘Tauktae’ and directed the senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated by the state governments.

He also directed the senior officers to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health, drinking water etc. are restored immediately in the event of damages caused to them.