[ad_1]
After a huge cyclone hit western India, at least 21 people were killed and nearly 100 others were missing, making the suffering of millions of others who are suffering from the devastating coronavirus surge even worse.
On Monday night, as more and more severe storms in the Arabian Sea were blamed on climate change, Hurricane Tauktae struck the coast of Gujarat, leaving thousands of people without electricity.
The cyclone blew high winds of up to 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, uprooting trees and knocking down power lines and mobile phone towers as it blows inland, but weakens slightly.
The Indian Navy said on Tuesday that a support ship serving an oil rig was sunk by huge waves off the coast of Mumbai. 96 of the 273 people on board were missing.
The Ministry of Defense stated that 177 people were rescued from the ship, and the operation is expected to continue throughout the day under “extremely challenging sea conditions.”
Al Jazeera’s Pavni Mittal reported in New Delhi that a huge cyclone-the largest hurricane to hit the region in decades-claimed at least 21 lives as the wind swept fragile houses and uprooted them. Trees and electrical towers.
Although the hurricane is one of the most violent hurricanes to hit the area, better forecasts than in recent years allowed for vigorous preparation, and more than 200,000 people from dangerous areas were evacuated from their homes.
Authorities in Mumbai closed the airport for several hours on Monday and urged people to stay indoors as huge waves hit the city’s waterfront.
COVID-19 disaster
The deadly weather system hindered India’s full response to the coronavirus surge, killing at least 4,000 people every day and pushing the health system to the extreme.
Al Jazeera’s Mittal said: “A lot of preparations have been made for the whirlwind. Remember that we are still in the midst of the devastating disaster of the second wave of pandemics.”
Mumbai moved about 600 COVID-19 patients from the on-site hospital to a “safer place” on Sunday, while the sea level near the seaside town of Diu rose by three meters (10 feet).
In Gujarat, all coronavirus patients in hospitals within five kilometers (3.1 miles) of the coast have also been transferred. The doctor said, but a patient could not be transferred in time before the storm, and died in the town of Mahwa.
This photo provided by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) of India shows that its staff are removing trees that have fallen due to heavy rain and strong winds in Mahuva town, Bhavnagar, Gujarat. [National Disaster Response Force via AP]
Authorities there are scrambling to ensure that the nearly 400 designated COVID-19 hospitals and 41 oxygen plants in the area will not lose power.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told reporters that more than 1,000 COVID-19 hospitals in coastal towns have been equipped with generators.
The state also suspended vaccination for two days. Mumbai did the same day.
“Horrible double whammy”
Udaya Regmi of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said: “This cyclone has caused a terrible double blow to millions of people in India, whose families have been affected by the record-breaking COVID- 19 killed by infection and death.”
The organization said it is helping the authorities to evacuate those most at risk from coastal areas, providing first aid, masks and “and encouraging other critical COVID-19 preventive measures.”
Near Mahuva, Gujarat, a truck filled with oxygen cylinders jammed due to falling trees due to the impact of approaching Tauktae. [Sam Panthaky/AFP]
In May last year, the “super hurricane” Amphan devastated eastern India and Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal, killing more than 110 people.
Roxy Mathew Koll of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology told AFP that the Arabian Sea has suffered fewer hurricanes than the Bay of Bengal before, but rising water temperatures are changing this situation due to global warming.
He said: “The Arabian Sea is one of the fastest warming basins in the world’s oceans.”
This influence is everywhere in Nepalese authorities, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Gujarat, and climbers on Mount Everest and other high mountains are advised to stay in place.
A government official at the base camp said that more than 200 climbers ignored the warning and went to Mount Everest, hoping to reach the summit by the end of the week.
“I have decided to wait for the summit after the 24th because the squally wind is in our area. Now, the hurricane also brings moisture and may snow.” Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking, the expedition organizer, told AFP.
The cyclone is expected to bring heavy rain as far as New Delhi, more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from the coast of Gujarat, and then to Uttarakhand, which borders Tibet in the Himalayas.
[ad_2]
Source link
