Cyclone Tauktae: Seven dead, 40,000 trees uprooted in Gujarat

Chief minister Vijay Rupani said 160 state roads had been destroyed and over 16,000 houses damaged

Collapsed sheds at a roadside eatery at Kodinar in Gir-Somnath district of Gujarat on Tuesday

PTI

PTI, Reuters   |   Ahmedabad   | 19.05.21:  At least seven persons died, towns and villages plunged into darkness because of power outages and thousands of trees and electricity poles were uprooted in areas near Gujarat’s coast after Cyclone Tauktae made landfall on Monday night, bringing with it very strong winds and heavy rainfall.

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said 160 state roads had been destroyed, 40,000 trees uprooted and over 16,000 houses damaged.

Heavy rain and high winds continued to lash the state but authorities said they were making sure that medical supplies such as life-saving oxygen were being delivered to hospitals at a time Gujarat had already been grappling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Waves crash near the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Tuesday in the aftermath of Cyclone Tauktae: PTI

“Our priority is to clear the roads, so there is no impact on oxygen movement,” said Gaurang Makwana, the top official of Bhavnagar district.

More than 200,000 people had been evacuated from their homes in Gujarat before Tauktae, packing gusts of up to 210kmph, made landfall.

No damage has been reported at refineries located in Gujarat and sea ports that were expected to be in the storm’s path.

At the Jamnagar refinery, the world’s biggest oil refinery complex that is owned by Reliance Industries, no damage was reported, a company spokesman said.

Operations at the Mundra port, India’s largest private port, have resumed, a port official said.

A spokesperson for Essar Ports also said their installations were safe. “…As a measure of precaution, we have moved all our floating craft to inner anchorage,” he said.

A farmer takes stock of the damage to his banana plantation at a village in Karad, Maharashtra, on Tuesday: PTI

Ahead of the cyclone, Adani Ports & SEZ had also taken various steps at its terminals in Mundra, Dahej and other facilities.

The landfall process of the eye of the extremely severe cyclonic storm, which had hit Gujarat coast in Saurashtra between Diu and Una around 9pm, ended around 12am on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said.

The authorities had snapped power supply in many areas of the worst affected coastal districts of Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagadh and Bhavnagar, among others, in advance as a precautionary measure, while other areas reported blackouts as soon as the cyclone started making landfall.

Many electricity poles were knocked out by strong winds. At Talala in Gir Somnath district, a mobile tower crashed, officials said.

A Chetak helicopter rescues employees of the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships stranded at the Vengurla Rock lighthouse in Maharashtra.: PTI

The cyclone caused damage to standing crops, the officials said. The popular Kesar variety of mangoes also bore the brunt of the cyclone in Gir Somnath and Junagadh districts, where they are mainly grown.

All major highways leading to Somnath and Diu had been blocked by the authorities to prevent accidents, leading to a long queue of heavy vehicles such as trucks and tankers.

At several places, roofs of thatched houses were blown away.

Many areas of Ahmedabad city were inundated with knee-deep water following incessant downpour as Tauktae moved northwards along the district’s periphery.

The city received a staggering 75.69mm of rain between 6am and 4pm, said municipal commissioner Mukesh Kumar. The rain intensified after 3pm.

Traffic on several roads was hindered due to fallen trees and hoardings.

In a tweet after midnight, the IMD announced that Cyclone Tauktae had weakened into a “very severe cyclonic storm” from “extremely severe cyclonic storm”.

The regional meteorological centre said the cyclone would now move towards northern Gujarat and eventually weaken.

“The cyclone would now move towards Amreli district and then towards Banaskantha in the north after crossing Surendranagar district. We expect that it will weaken as it moves forward,” said assistant director, Met Centre, Manorama Mohanty.

Rescued crew members of barge P305 after they were brought to the INS Shikra in Mumbai on Tuesday: PTI

Officials said the true picture of the devastation would emerge only on Wednesday morning as the extreme weather made it nearly impossible to go out at night.

Major airports in Gujarat, including those at Ahmedabad and Surat, had shut down operations as a precautionary measure. Barring Rajkot airport, which will remain shut for flights till 11.15am on Wednesday, the ones at Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara opened on Tuesday afternoon.