At least 13 people were killed in Gujarat as cyclone “Tauktae” battered parts of the state and left behind a trail of destruction, while the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard have so far rescued 317 people on board two barges that went adrift in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai, officials said.
Gujarat, where the cyclonic storm made a landfall on late Monday night before weakening, bore the brunt of the weather system which caused heavy rains, uprooted electric poles and trees, and damaged several houses and roads.
Tauktae crossed the Gujarat coast as an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” around midnight and gradually weakened into a “severe cyclonic storm,” before further weakening to a “cyclonic storm” now, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Over 16,000 houses were damaged, and more than 40,000 trees and over 1,000 poles uprooted due to the cyclonic storm in Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.
As many as 35 Gujarat talukas received more than one inch of rainfall, with Bagasara taluka receiving 9 inches of rainfall, Gir Gadhada 8 inches, Una 8 inches, Savarkundla 7 inches and Amreli 5 inches. Rajula, Khamba, and Babra talukas each received 5 inches of rainfall, the CM said. Also, 159 roads were damaged and 196 remained blocked due to different reasons, Rupani said, adding 45 of the roads were cleared for traffic so far.