Major Relief For Millions As Cyclone Vayu Changes Course And Moves Further Into The Sea, Set To Miss Gujarat Coast
Severe Cyclone Vayu which was set to make landfall on Thursday along the Gujarat coast may not hit the land at all the Indian Meteorological Department has said. The cyclone has changed its trajectory overnight and is now moving further into the sea. Nearly 3 lakh people from low-lying areas had already been evacuated and shifted to safer locations before the arrival of the cyclone.
Severe Cyclone Vayu which was set to make landfall on Thursday along the Gujarat coast may not hit the land at all, the Indian Meteorological Department has said. According to the Met Department, Cyclone Vayu has changed its trajectory overnight and is now moving further into the sea.
AP
"Cyclone Vayu may not make landfall. It will only skirt the coast. It has made a small deviation. But, its effect will be there with strong winds and heavy rain,¡± secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences M Rajeevan told PTI.
But the state continues to be on alert as the cyclone may cause heavy wind and rain in the coastal areas.
Cyclone ¡®VAYU¡¯ over Arabian Sea at 0530 hrs IST of today, the 13th June, 2019 about 150 km south-southwest of Diu, 110 km southwest of Veraval (Gujarat) & 150 km south of Porbandar (Gujarat). To skirt Saurashtra coast with wind speed 135-145 kmph from today afternoon. pic.twitter.com/xzRJ7OnVZm
¡ª India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) June 13, 2019
Nearly 3 lakh people from low-lying areas had already been evacuated and shifted to safer locations before the arrival of the cyclone.
AP
The Indian Army, Navy and NDRF were put on standby for any emergencies. They continue to be on alert even after the threat of the cyclone has reduced.
Gujarat: Food packets being prepared by various groups in Rajkot, in the light of #CycloneVayu . The food packets will be dispatched to the cyclone affected areas of the state, as per the instructions by the govt officials. pic.twitter.com/c57aWFlIq5
¡ª ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019
Flight operations from Ahmedabad to Porbandar, Diu, Kandla, Mundra, and Bhavnagar, however, continued to remain cancelled for Thursday.
AP
Cyclone Vayu is the second deadliest cyclone to hit the state since 1998 that had ravaged port town Kandla killing 1,241 persons
This is also the second severe cyclonic storm to hit the country this year. Earlier in May the eastern coast of India was hit by Cyclone Fani, leaving a trail of destruction in Odisha.
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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