Cyclone Biparjoy: Over 20,000 people have been shifted from coastal areas to temporary shelters
Cyclone 'Biparjoy' which weakened from an 'extremely severe' to 'very severe' cyclone is expected to make landfall in Gujarat and Pakistan on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting yesterday and directed officials to safely evacuate people from vulnerable areas and ensure the maintenance of essential services.
Over 20,000 people have been shifted from coastal areas to temporary shelters, and people living within 10 km off the coast of Kutch and Saurashtra districts in Gujarat have been evacuated.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said cyclone 'Biparjoy' has the potential to cause "extensive damage" to crops, roads, power lines, etc.
Here are some of India's deadliest cyclones
Cyclone Tauktae - Characterized as an extremely severe cyclonic storm', 'Tauktae' hit parts of Gujarat in May of 2021, leaving a trail of destruction. The cyclonic storm killed over 100 people and also led to the sinking of Barge P-305, a tug boat off the Mumbai coast in which over 80 people died.
Cyclone Fani - The 'extremely severe' cyclonic storm hit the coast off Odisha in 2019, leaving over 100 dead. The storm made landfall with a wind speed of 240 km/hr and was one of the strongest cyclones to hit India in five years.
NASA images showed millions in Odisha plunged into darkness after Fani hit the coast off Odisha, making it one the deadliest storm to hit the state since the 1999 supercyclone. Almost a million people from the state were evacuated to nearly 5,000 temporary shelters hours before its landfall.
1999 Odisha Cyclone - The super cyclone was one of the deadliest cyclones in India's history. The cyclone hit the coast off Paradip with a maximum wind speed of 260 km/hr. Over 9,800 people were killed due to the cyclone and injuring over 2,000.
1998 Gujarat Cyclone - The 'very severe' cyclonic storm hit the coast off Porbandar in Gujarat, with a maximum wind speed of over 160 km/hr. The very severe cyclonic storm killed 1,176 people and injured over 1,700.
1996 Cyclonic Storm - A very severe cyclonic storm hit the coast of Andhra Pradesh near Kakinanda. The cyclone killed 2,000 people and 900 were reported missing. The cyclone damaged crops on 3,20,000 hectares of land.
1977 Super Cyclone - One of the deadliest natural disasters in India's history, the super cyclone killed 10,000 people after it hit Nizampatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The supercyclone damaged Rs 350 crore worth of property in 1977.
1971 Odisha Cyclone - An estimated 10,000 people were killed after an extremely severe cyclone made a landfall off Paradip coast in Odisha.