Cyclone Biparjoy intensified to “extremely severe” today, raising the alert level on the coasts of India and Pakistan, where authorities have already begun to take action before its expected arrival in the coming days.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin that Biparjoy, which is currently crossing the Arabian Sea, intensified into an extremely severe cyclone at 05:30 local time (01:00 in Lisbon), about 480 kilometers southwest of Naliya (northwest). Indian coast).
“It will pass through Saurashtra and Kutch (India) and Pakistan around noon on June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm,” says IMD.
The cyclone is accompanied by winds that reach 190 kilometers per hour on the surface, which is why the IMD recommended suspending all fishing activities in the area until it passes.
The meteorology department expects these winds to gradually decrease over the next few days, reaching a top speed of 150km/h on Thursday, when it is forecast to hit the southern Pakistani city of Karachi as “very strong”. .
However, its effects will also be felt in the Indian state of Gujarat, where the IMD warned of the occurrence of “heavy” and “very heavy” rains from Wednesday, which will intensify to “extreme” rains in isolated spots on Thursday. .
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already been deployed to Gujarat’s coastal cities, which are expected to bear the brunt, the ANI news agency reported.
At the same time, the Pakistan Meteorological Department reported that the southern coast of Pakistan will start to feel the effects of the cyclone on Tuesday afternoon/evening, saying that “strong winds may cause damage to loose and vulnerable structures such as mud houses “. . .
“Showers and thunderstorms with some very heavy rain and gusty winds (60-80 km/h) are expected” on Pakistan’s south and south-east coast, it added.
As a result, the Karachi authorities banned access to its beaches, fishing activities and boating on Saturday.
The passage of cyclones is common on the Indian coast, which last month raised the alert for several of its eastern provinces due to the cyclonic storm Mocha, of a “very severe” category, which left more than a hundred dead in Burma and devastated dozens of cultivated fields. Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
In May 2020, Cyclone Amphan claimed more than 100 lives in India and Bangladesh, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in recent years.
HN/EA
Source: TSF
