Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Hard News Hard Hitting News Source Global Political News

Environmental News

Severe Cyclone Heading Toward Southern India; 4 Dead

Relatives of a person who died of reasons other than COVID-19 perform rituals in Periyar river during heavy rains in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Saturday, May 15, 2021. With cyclonic storm “Tauktae” intensifying over the Arabian Sea, the southern state is receiving heavy rains amid a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)

NEW DELHI (AP) — A severe cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least four people, officials said Sunday.

Cyclone Tauktae, the season’s first major storm, is expected to make landfall on Tuesday in Gujarat state, a statement by the India Meteorological Department said.

The massive storm will likely hamper India’s fight against a coronavirus surge that’s sweeping the country with devastating death tolls, as virus lockdown measures may slow relief work and damage from the storm could potentially destroy roads and cut vital supply lines.

In areas along the Arabian Sea coast, four people were killed and 73 villages badly damaged on Sunday, according to the southwestern Karnataka state’s disaster management authority.

Nearly 2,500 government rescuer workers have been deployed in six states on Cyclone Tauktae’s path — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa — equipped with wireless radios, satellite phones, cutters and tools needed for post-cyclone operations.

The storm, moving at a speed of 11 kilometers per hour (7 miles per hour), was currently 660 kilometers (410 miles) south-southeast of Veraval in Gujarat state, the India Meteorological Department said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed with officials the preparedness of states to deal with the cyclone, a government statement said.

The region is no stranger to devastating cyclones, but changing climate patterns have caused them to become more intense, rather than more frequent.

Last cyclone season, K.J. Ramesh, the former chief of India’s weather agency, said the increased ferocity of the storms is caused by the temperature of the sea’s surface. Warm ocean water is where storms get their energy, and the amount of heat trapped in the top 700 meters (2,300 feet) of the seas has increased.

Copyright 2020 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-india-health-coronavirus-pandemic-science-238af3ab5ded33c3ef105f852a4ca555

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Business News

MOSCOW (AP) — One American and two Russian space crew members blasted off Friday aboard a Russian spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan...

Business News

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Psilocybin tea, wind chimes and a tie-dye mattress await those coming to an office suite in Eugene to trip on...

Business News

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trumpeting Medicare’s new powers to negotiate directly with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications — but a poll shows that...

Business News

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A major rescue operation is underway in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to bring out an American researcher who fell seriously ill...

Copyright © 2023 Hard News Herd Hitting in Your Face News Source | World News | Breaking News | US News | Political News Website by Top Search SEO