Cyclone Biparjoy is crawling along the Arabian Sea with strong winds and appears to be making its way towards the border of Pakistan and India, where authorities ordered the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents before the storm made landfall on Thursday.
The cyclone, called “catastrophe” in Bengali, was the equivalent of a Category 2 storm on Wednesday but it has since weakened to a strong tropical storm, with sustained winds of 69 mph and gusts to 86 miles per hour on Thursday morning in Pakistan and India, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Before that it was moving with gusts of wind like a hurricane.
Across the wider area, forecasters say the storm will produce heavy rain and tropical storm-like winds of more than 39 mph extending at least 80 miles from the center of the storm, from Gujarat in western India to the port city of Karachi. , Pakistan. Tidal levels are forecast to rise 6 to 10 feet above normal in areas near and just south of the storm’s center.
On Thursday, the storm is expected to pass over Keti Bandar, a fishing port nearly 200 miles east of Karachi, and the Kutch district of Gujarat.
Authorities in Gujarat ordered residents living within six miles of the coast to move to safer places. More than 80,000 people in Pakistan have been evacuated, with authorities ordering businesses and malls to close along the coast of Karachi, a city of 22 million people.
Authorities were preparing days before the expected attack. In Pakistan’s southern coastal regions, thousands of people have fled their homes to safer places. Schools and other government buildings have been converted into relief shelters.
Syed Murad Ali Shah, the head of Sindh province in Pakistan, told the provincial parliament at Tuesday’s meeting: “It will be much more difficult and risky to evacuate people when the storm hits the coast. He said the priority was to evacuate the coastal areas of Thatta, Sujawal and Badin.
Sharjeel Memon, the provincial information minister in Sindh, said more than 64,000 people had been evacuated from vulnerable areas on Wednesday morning. Heavy rains and dust storms in coastal areas added urgency to evacuations. Residents say sea water has begun to flood the villages.
Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s climate change minister, said Karachi is likely to face flooding because of the size and intensity of the winds.
Last year, torrential rain caused urban flooding on a large scale and damaged the port city, causing it to stall for days. At least 31 people died, many of them electrocuted or drowned after roofs and walls collapsed on them, according to the provincial disaster agency.
Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea have become more frequent in recent decades due to warming sea surface temperatures in the region, enhanced by a warming climate, According to the researchers.
Pakistan, and especially Sindh province, is still reeling from the devastating floods in 2022engulfed much of the country, killing nearly 1,700 people and displacing large numbers of the population.
In India, meteorologists said the storm is expected to make landfall near Kutch district on Thursday. Statement of Meteorological Department of India said roads would be flooded and some homes and crops would be damaged or destroyed.
Television images from Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, showed high waves flooding roads along the coast.
Mohsen Shahedi, an official with the National Disaster Response Force in India, said more than 45,000 people have been evacuated and local authorities will continue their efforts to get people to safe shelters until evening. Wednesday.
Authorities asked residents to move livestock, close schools and stop fishing. Officials have warned residents in northern Gujarat of the possibility of flash floods and landslides.
Bhavesh Mukht, a fisherman in Kutch district, said: “The wind was very, very strong and we were very scared. “After the police started making announcements on loudspeakers asking people to move, we left everything behind.”
