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The cyclone Biparjoy has begun to weaken a bit but it would still be sufficiently strong to cause potentially widespread damage when it makes a landfall later on Thursday (June 15).
The landfall is expected is expected to happen near Jakhau Port in Gujarat, barely 70 km southeast from the international border with Pakistan. The process of landfall is likely to continue for a several hours, from early evening till about midnight, the latest bulletin from India Meteorological Department said.
Biparjoy has already lost some energy from Wednesday, and has been downgraded to a “very severe cyclonic storm” from “extremely severe cyclonic storm”.
On Wednesday morning, the winds associated with the cyclone were moving at 125-135 km per hour, with gusts reaching up to 150 kmph. By the afternoon, however, the wind speeds had come down a bit to 120-130 kmph, with gusts reaching 145 kmph. The wind speeds are expected to reduce a little more by the landfall in the evening.
After the landfall, the cyclone is expected to dissipate pretty quickly, as happens with most other cyclones as well. By Friday, the cyclone would have dissipated almost completely.
But during this time, it is expected to cause lot of damage in the coastal districts of Gujarat, many parts of which have already begun to see storm surges and rainfall. Storm surges could go as high as 3 to 6 metres at some places, the IMD has warned.
Mud and thatched houses along the coast are likely to get completely destroyed, while even permanent concrete structures are expected to get damaged. Power and communication lines are also likely to get snapped.
As of now, roughly 94,000 people have been evacuated from eight coastal districts in Gujarat, including 35,822 along the coast of Kutch district. A total of 30 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in several parts of Gujarat.
Another 67,000 people have been evacuated in Pakistan’s Sindh province.
Click here for latest updates on Cyclone Biparjoy.
