PTI, AHMEDABAD: Parts of Gujarat are bracing for impact from strengthening Cyclone Vayu, which is expected to slam into the state early Thursday, even as authorities shifted around 1.60 lakh people on the coast to safer places. People from low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions have been evacuated, state officials said Wednesday. Operations at ports and airports in these regions have been suspended as precautionary measure, officials said.
As per the latest weather report, cyclone Vayu, which has turned into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’, has changed its course slightly and would now hit Gujarat coast anywhere between Veraval in the south and Dwarka in the west in the afternoon Thursday, officials said. The cyclone is now situated around 280 km south of and is very likely to move nearly northwards and cross Gujarat
coast between Dwarka and Veraval as a “very severe cyclonic storm” with wind speeds of 155-165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph around afternoon of Thursday, a release by the Meteorological Centre said.
After making the landfall, the cyclone is likely to move along and parallel to Saurashtra and Kutch coast, it said. An alert was sounded in 10 districts of Gujarat as the cyclone has turned “very severe” and its impact is expected to remain strong for 24 hours even after its landfall Thursday, officials said.
