Cyclone Tauktae: Amid pandemic, India's western states brace for storm

The cyclone, with sustained surface wind speeds of 180-190 kmph and gusts up to 210 kmph that would put it on a par with a Category 3 hurricane, is rated one level below the IMD's super cyclone category.

Police and rescue personnel evacuates local residents from a flooded house in a coastal area after heavy rains under the influence of cyclone 'Tauktae' in Kochi.

The 1998 cyclone that ravaged Gujarat killed at least 4,000 people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, media reported at the time. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage.

The financial hub of Mumbai was lashed with heavy rain and strong winds as Cyclone Tauktae headed north. Strong winds forced authorities to suspend operations at Mumbai's airport, and close some main roads.

In waterlogged Mumbai, where authorities on Monday closed the airport for several hours and urged people to stay indoors, authorities on Sunday shifted 580 Covid patients "to safer locations" from three field hospitals.

Cyclone Tauktae has killed eight people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa.

The vast swirling system visible from space threatens to exacerbate India's dire problems dealing with a huge surge in coronavirus cases that is killing at least 4,000 people every day and pushing hospitals to breaking point.

Gujarat's state administration moved nearly 150,000 people from coastal communities and deployed more than 50 disaster response teams. All Covid patients in hospitals with five kilometres of the coast were also moved.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has asked officials to ensure that electricity supplies to COVID-19 hospitals and other medical facilities are not disrupted and the supply of oxygen is maintained. Meanwhile, vaccinations have been suspended for the next two days.