Cyclonic storm Tauktae, which further intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Monday morning, currently lays 90 km southeast of Diu and is most likely to hit the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva in Bhavnagar district tonight between 8 pm – 11 pm.
Before heading towards the Gujarat coast, the cyclonic storm caused gusty winds and heavy showers across Mumbai city and its neighbouring areas.
The wind speed of 114 kmph was recorded around 2 pm at the weather station based at Afghan Church in south Mumbai’s Colaba area, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.
Two persons were killed while thousands were evacuated from the coastal region as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa besides the lieutenant governor of Daman and Diu regarding preparation and response to deal with cyclone Tauktae.
The prime minister had on Saturday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the cyclone’s fallout in a high-level meeting which was attended by several ministries and agencies concerned.
Surjitt Sahani
