Cyclone Biparjoy makes landfall in India and Pakistan packing powerful rain and wind after mass-evacuations
New Delhi — Heavy rain and strong wind lashed the southwest coasts of India and Pakistan Thursday evening as Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall. India's Meteorological Department said the storm would continue to churn onto the country's western coast until midnight.
The cyclone, which grew to the strength of a Category 2 hurricane over the Arabian Sea on Wednesday, had weakened slightly by the time it came ashore Thursday between Mandvi in India's western Gujarat state and Karachi in southern Pakistan. The weather agency said it first made landfall at around 7 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Eastern).
Biparjoy — which means "disaster" in the Bangla language — was expected to pack strong winds with sustained speeds up to 78 miles per hour and gusts close to 90 mph. Storm surges up to 13 feet were also predicted.
No loss of life or damage was immediately reported by either country as the cyclone made landfall.
The South Asian nations evacuated more than 170,000 people from coastal areas ahead of the storm's arrival, deployed rescue teams and shut down all major activities in Biparjoy's predicted path.
India's weather office said the cyclone was expected to damage roads and houses, uproot trees and disrupt power and communications lines.
India alone had evacuated more than 94,000 people from the eight coastal districts of Gujarat to safer locations. Pretty much all activities, including public transport, fishing and businesses in those districts were shut down.
"Those who were shifted to safer places include nearly 8,900 children, 1,131 pregnant women and 4,697 elderly persons. A total of 1,521 shelter homes have been set up in eight districts," a statement from the Gujarat state government said Thursday.
India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had deployed more than 30 teams to Gujarat, while teams from the Indian Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard were on standby.
Seven people died in India due to the extreme weather conditions caused by the cyclone even before it made landfall on Thursday, with rough seas and collapsing walls blamed for the deaths.
India also shut down scores of train lines connecting Gujarat's coast with the rest of the country, as well as Kandla and Mundra, two of India's largest commercial ports.
"Our aim is to ensure zero casualties," said Rushikesh Patel, Gujarat's state health minister, appealing to people to stay indoors.
Pakistan evacuated more than 80,000 people from its coastal areas in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces. The country's major port city of Karachi — which has a population of more than 20 million – looked deserted on Thursday ahead of the cyclone's landfall.
Authorities had ordered all businesses and shopping malls in the city to shut down ahead of the storm's arrival.
Biparjoy is the first major cyclone to hit Pakistan since catastrophic floods last year left more than 1,700 people dead and caused widespread destruction in the country.
Experts say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of cyclones that form over the warming Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean — paving the way for more natural disasters to hit large populations in the South Asian nations.