Cyclone Tauktae: Over 100 rescue teams are on duty.
Maharashtra and Gujarat are bracing to face extremely severe cyclone Tauktae.
The cyclone, which is expected to make landfall in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district between 8 pm and 11 pm, has been given the name by Myanmar.
Tauktae has been named after a reptile. The name of the 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' is inspired by the Burmese word for gecko.
While social media users were able to get their hands on the origin of the unique name, the pronunciation of the word continued to remain a challenge. Tauktae is pronounced Tau'te, where the ‘k' remains silent.
The name was chosen by the World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (WMO/ESCAP) Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC). The panel includes 13 countries, namely India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, which choose the names of the cyclones in the region.
Given that the cyclone is fast approaching, in Mumbai the airport has been shut till 4 pm. In addition to this, the city's Bandra-Worli Sea Link has been closed and temporary shelters have been set up in 24 wards. As many as three NDRF teams are on alert. At 11.30 am on Monday, the storm was 142 km from Mumbai and moving at 15 km per hour.
In Gujarat, over 25,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas between Porbandar and Mahuva in Bhavnagar district in anticipation of landfall.
On Sunday, the cyclone caused gale-force winds and heavy rainfall in Karnataka, Kerala and Goa coasts claiming at least six lives and displacing lakhs from residents. Loss of property, damaged houses, roads and power lines have also been reported in these states.