Cyclone Biparjoy: India and Pakistan brace for landfall

A vast swathe of western India and neighbouring southern Pakistan are bracing for a new deluge as fast-approaching Cyclone Biparjoy whirls toward landfall Thursday. Above: Rough seas at Gateway of India.

Rain was falling and skies were darkening in western India and southern Pakistan along the Arabian Sea, where dusty storms were hampering the evacuation and rescue work. Authorities expect conditions to worsen for two or three days after the cyclone makes landfall in India's Gujarat. Above: High tides seen at the Marine Lines is excepted to make landfall in Gujarat on Thursday.

Officials from the two South Asian countries stood on high alert as the cyclone approached. It's expected to make landfall near Jakhau port in India's Kutch district and inundate the area. Above: An aerial view shows the deserted Mandvi beach some 100 Km southeast of Jakhau Port.

The bazaars and beaches in Mandvi, India, usually a bustling coastal town known for its wooden boat-makers, were deserted Thursday under shutdown orders from the government. Heavy winds and rains uprooted some trees in the area. Local media reported that a pregnant woman was brought from Shiyalbet island in the Amreli district to shore and admitted to a hospital. Above: A view of Gomti Ghat as VSCS (very severe cyclonic storm) Biparjoy to cross Saurashtra & Kutch & adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi & Karachi near Jakhau Port by today evening, in Dwarka on Thursday.

Thousands of people in India were evacuated, bringing the total number of people shifted to relief camps to 75,000. In Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority chief, Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik, said 73,000 people have been evacuated to safer places so far, and authorities are providing them shelter and food. Above: Cyclone evacuees arrive at a temporary shelter set at a school in Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province.

The disaster management agency said Thursday that the cyclone was packing sustained winds of up to 120 kph (about 75 mph) and was projected to hit Pakistan's Sindh province, the site of one of historic deadly floods last summer. At least 1,739 people were killed and 33 million were displaced in 2022 when climate-induced floods swept the country, causing $30 billion in damage.

The Indian Meteorological Department said the cyclone was bearing down on Jakhau port, where it is likely to make landfall on Thursday evening. Like southern Pakistan, large parts of coastal Gujarat have also been experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds. Indian authorities warned that the cyclone, classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm,” has the potential to inflict heavy damage once it makes landfall.

A storm surge of two-to-three meters (two-to-three yards) above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas in the storm's path. The tides could rise as high as six meters (more than six yards) in some places, the IMD has said. “Elaborate arrangements have been made by us for post-cyclone work like restoration of electricity infrastructure, mobile networks and other infrastructure,” Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency. Above: NDRF personnel evacuate Civilians from Rupen bander low lying area and shifted to NDH School in view of the impending cyclone.

NDRF personnel alert and warn people near coastal and low-lying areas in Kutch.

Commuters make their way amid rain showers in Karachi.

Policemen stop motorcyclists along a closed coastal road in Karachi as cyclone Biparjoy makes its way across the Arabian Sea towards the coastlines of Pakistan.