3 Lakh Evacuated, 39 Teams Of NDRF, 10 Columns Of Army Deployed In Gujarat, As Cyclone Vayu Set To Make Landfall
Cyclone Vayu could make landfall over the Saurashtra coast early tomorrow. Around 280000 people from the vulnerable areas along the coast are being evacuated to safety. Indian Army has deployed 10 columns in the coastal areas of the state on Wednesday night. Indian Air Force IAF has also deployed helicopters at nodal points in the state for relief and rescue operations.
Massive evacuation efforts are underway in Gujarat and Maharashtra as the two states are likely to be hit by Cyclone Vayu, which could make landfall over the Saurashtra coast early tomorrow.
Ahead of the severe cyclonic storm making landfall accompanied with winds up to 135 kmph and storm surges of up to 1.5 metres, the India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Saurashtra and Kutch.
VSCS ¡®VAYU¡¯ over Eastcentral Arabian Sea is about 340 km nearly south of Veraval (Gujarat).
¡ª India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) June 12, 2019
It is very likely to move nearly northwards and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Veraval & Diu region as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm in morning of 13th June 2019. pic.twitter.com/0Qqj4rqiai
According to AccuWeather, it is possible that the strength of Vayu will be equal to a strong Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane when it barrels into Gujarat.
Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh said that around 280,000 people from the vulnerable areas along the coast are being evacuated to safety before Vayu hits land.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has deployed 10 columns in the coastal areas of the state on Wednesday night.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also deployed helicopters at nodal points in the state for relief and rescue operations and stationed a ¡°highly mobile radar¡± at state capital Gandhinagar.
#CycloneVayu : IAF C-17 aircraft lands at Jamnagar with NDRF team. The NDRF team will carry out #HADR missions in Gujarat, for the people affected by Cyclone Vayu. #savinglives pic.twitter.com/3E0YjsVzeW
¡ª Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 11, 2019
#CycloneVayu: NDRF teams from Vijayawada airlifted to Jamnagar Airport to help people of Gujarat and Diu during Cyclone Vayu pic.twitter.com/vfe3ezafK5
¡ª Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) June 12, 2019
On Tuesday, the Indian Air Force had tweeted that its C-17 Globemaster got airborne from New Delhi for Vijayawada.
#CycloneVayu : Today a C-17 aircraft of #IAF got airborne from New Delhi to Vijayawada. The aircraft is planned to airlift about 160 personnel of NDRF from Vijayawada to Jamnagar to carry out the #HADR missions for the people affected by the cyclone in Gujarat. #SavingLives pic.twitter.com/V9Z2KuKJ6r
¡ª Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 11, 2019
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has pre-positioned 39 NDRF teams, comprising about 45 rescuers each, in Gujarat and Diu and they are equipped with boats, tree-cutters and telecom equipment.
39 TEAMS of NDRF are being deployed at agreed prepositioning locations identified by State/UT Govt. of Gujarat/Diu. #TEAMNDRFINDIA preparing in all respects to tackle onrushing cyclone effectively with minimal loss in close coordination with State/UT @NDRFHQ @ndmaindia @HMOIndia pic.twitter.com/ZEItrWB7bd
¡ª ?¦Át§é¦Á n pr¦Ádh¦Án, d¨ªr?ct¦Òr g?n?r¦Ál,ndrf (@satyaprad1) June 11, 2019
This is the second major cyclonic storm to hit India this year. Earlier in May the eastern coast of India was hit by Cyclone Fani, leaving a trail of destruction in Odisha.
The death toll in the nonseasonal severe cyclone was reduced to just around 40 as around 12 lakh people were moved to safety on time.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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