Cyclone Tauktae batters Saurashtra region: three dead, 16,500 houses damaged

As per an estimate, Rupani said, 181 electricity poles and 196 roads have been damaged. With the damage, the roads have been closed, but 42 have been made motorable with immediate action. He also added that around 40,000 instances of tree felling have been reported.

After it made landfall on Saurashtra coast near Una in Gir Somnath district Monday night, Cyclone Tauktae has battered the Saurashtra region with three deaths, power outage in around 2,500 villages, damage to 16,500 houses/huts, 40,000 incidents of tree falling, and damage to 196 roads. Also, many rivers in the region have witnessed flooding owing to heavy rainfall since Monday.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took stock of the situation from State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) in Gandhinagar. Following this, he addressed the media Tuesday morning during which he said that reports of three deaths in Vapi, Rajkot and Gariadhar have been reported so far.

“Officially, so far, three death reports have been recorded. One in Vapi (in Valsad district), one in Rajkot district where a boy died after a kuccha house fell on him and another in Gariyadhar in Bhavnagar where an 80-year-old woman died,” the Chief Minister said.

Rupani said that power cut was reported from around 2,500 villages and it was restored in 484 of them.

As per an estimate, he said, 181 electricity poles and 196 roads have been damaged. With the damage, the roads have been closed, but 42 have been made motorable with immediate action. He also added that around 40,000 instances of tree felling have been reported.

The cyclone had posed a major threat to the operations of designated COVID-19 hospitals in the region. But, Rupani said, out of around 1,400 such hospitals, the power outage was reported in only 16 hospitals. “Power has been restored in 12 of them and in other four, it is on with diesel generator (DG) sets. We had deployed DG sets in all 1400 hospitals. And the power will be restored shortly in four hospitals,” Rupani said.

The CM also said that the Saurashtra region has received rainfall due to the cyclone and maximum rainfall was received in Amreli district and two tehsils of Gir Somnath.

As most parts of the state continue receiving rainfall Tuesday morning, Bagasara in Amreli district received the highest rainfall of 212 mm between Monday evening and Tuesday morning till 6 am.

Another 11 talukas in Saurashtra and South Gujarat recorded more than 100 mm rainfall till Tuesday morning. Gir Gadhada in Gir Somnath recorded 185 mm followed by Umergam in Valsad district of South Gujarat that recorded 183 mm. Una in Gir Somnath too received heavy rainfall of 175 mm. Others include Savarkundla in Amreli, Palitana in Bhavnagar, Amreli, Mahuva in Bhavnagar, Rajula, Khambha, Babra in Amreli district, Gadhda in Botad.

As per IMD’s cyclone bulletin, the extremely severe cyclonic storm has weakened into a severe cyclonic storm and likely to reduce to a cyclonic storm by afternoon. The severe cyclonic storm lay centered over Saurashtra at 9.30 am-205 km southwest of Ahmedabad, 125 km south-southwest of Surendranagar, 15 km east-northeast from Amreli. It will further gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm during the next three hours.

Meanwhile, at least one person was reported missing as cyclone Tauktae hit the Amreli coast on Monday night leaving in its wake a trail of destruction—damaged homes and shops, snapped power cables and flattened communication towers and highways clogged by uprooted trees. Rajula and Jafrabad towns were cut off as phone lines, power supply and road connectivity remained disrupted around 12 hours after the cyclone made landfall between Kodinar and Una towns in neighbouring Gir Somnath district between 8 pm and 11 pm Monday.

Dozens of shops made of steel sheets on the bank of Navli river in Savarkundla town were blown away by squally winds which achieved a peak in the early hours of Tuesday. Hoardings and signboards of commercial establishments blown away by gusting winds littered town roads, making movement difficult and fraught with risks. Dozens of electric polls were flattened with power cables dangling dangerously on streets and roads as the town, the second largest of Amreli district, continued to be without power for more than the past 14 hours.

Vehicle movement on the Savarkundla-Rajula section of the Amreli-Rajula state highway was halted as trees uprooted by squally winds and rain fell on the carriageway. Reports claimed vehicle movement on roads in Jafrabad town was also not possible following flattened trees and electric poles.

Pankaj Kumar, additional chief secretary (revenue) of the Gujarat government, said that when the extremely severe cyclonic storm made landfall near Una at around 9 pm on Monday, persistent windspeed was 150 km per hour. However, its impact was felt the most in neighbouring Jafrabad and Rajula where winds gusted up to 185 km per hour.

Till Monday night, the cyclone passed over Saurashtra with a wind speed of 160 kmph, which has now reduced to 100-110 kmph.

Meanwhile, the office of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Savarkundla confirmed one person was missing after his car was swept away in Navli river. Ibrahim Bavaliya (55) alias Ibrahim Ghantiwala, a resident of Savarkundla town was reported missing after the car he was driving in was blown off a bridge across near Navli river and swept away in the flooded river, his family members said. “He complained of breathlessness at around 4 am and his sons Yusuf, Javid and wife Hamida were taking him to the hospital. However, while crossing the bridge, their car was thrown off the river bridge by a gale of wind. The two sons and their mother managed to swim to safety, Ibrahim is still missing,” Ibrahim’s younger brother Hanif told The Indian Express.

The car remained trapped in the river till late Tuesday morning with the SDM’s office saying the fire brigade of Savarkundla municipality was undertaking a rescue operation. Later in the morning, the intensity of rain fell but winds were still strong as people remained indoors.

In Veraval, around 10 fishermen were trapped in a boat that drifted away in the sea. The boats were anchored in the harbor, but they drifted away in the sea owing to the impact of the cyclone. Attempts were on to rescue the fishermen.

In Ahmedabad, nearly 30 incidents of falling of trees were reported. To avoid any flood-like situation, the water level of the Sabarmati River was reduced from 133 to 130 feet as two gates of the Vasna barrage were opened.

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