7.50 am: Cyclone Tauktae has claimed at least 13 lives in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region and left 12 dead in Maharashta, reports The Indian Express.
7.40 am: At least four people were killed in Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi after it was hit by gusty winds and a dust storm under the influence of Cyclone Tauktae, reports PTI.
7.24 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat and Diu to take stock of the situation in view of the cyclone, reports ANI, quoting unidentified officials. Modi will conduct an aerial survey of areas such as Una, Diu, Jafarabad, and Mahuva. He will also hold a review meeting in Ahmedabad.
7.19 am: The India Meteorological Department says Cyclone Taukte was moving north-northeastwards and lay centred over Gujarat, about 110 km from Ahmedabad at 11.30 pm on Tuesday. It says the cyclone is likely to weaken into a “depression” in the next six hours.
Here are the updates from Tuesday:
- Tauktae was downgraded to a “cyclonic storm” after it made landfall in Gujarat, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday.
- The Indian Navy, which has been conducting multiple search operations, said that one of the barges that sent out an emergency rescue call has sunk. The vessel, identified as P305, had 273 people on board, of which 146 were rescued till Tuesday morning. As many as 81 were still missing and the Navy authorities are actively involved in a search and rescue operation.
- The India Meteorological Department predicted “light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places over the Gujarat region and Saurashtra on Tuesday”.
- In the aftermath of the cyclone, at least 24 people died as several states across the western coast of India reeled under the impact of cyclone Tauktae. Twelve people died in Maharashtra, while eight died in Karnataka, four deaths occurred in Gujarat.
- Gujarat chief minister’s office has said that the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the state has been suspended due to the Cyclone Taukte situation and would resume on May 20.