Hurricane-force winds and strong waves battered the coastlines of India and Pakistan on Thursday, hours before an intense cyclone potentially devastating for both countries made landfall. About 150,000 people evacuated the predicted path of Cyclone Biparjoy, whose name means “disaster” in the Bengali language, which forecasters say could destroy homes and bring down power lines.
Powerful winds and storm surges are expected to batter a 325km coastline between Mandvi in the Indian state of Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan. Jayantha Bhai, a 35-year-old shopkeeper in Mandvi, told AFP that he fears for the safety of his family. “This is the first time I have experienced a cyclone,” said Bhai, father of three children between the ages of 8 and 15, who said he will wait out the cyclone in his small concrete house behind the store.
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The India Meteorological Department predicted a “very severe” storm for Thursday night in the port of Jakhau, warning of the “total destruction” of the traditional mud houses. At sea, the winds reached 180 km/h according to meteorologists, who expect it to make landfall with winds of 115 to 125 km/h and gusts of up to 140 km/h.
The Indian state of Gujarat said 75,000 people had been moved to shelters far from the coast.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday that 73,000 people had been moved from coastal areas to 75 camps in the interior. “It’s a cyclone like Pakistan has never experienced,” she told reporters.
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Many of the affected areas were covered in water in last year’s catastrophic floods, which damaged two million houses and killed more than 1,700 people. “All these are the results of climate change,” said the minister.
AFP
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