A major cyclone packing very dangerous winds and threatening a destructive storm surge bore down on India yesterday, disrupting the country’s response to its debilitating Covid-19 situation.
No fewer than six people died over the weekend in torrential rains and winds as Cyclone Tauktae, this storm swept over the Arabian Sea with Gujarat state in its sights according to reports.
The ‘Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm’ was due to make landfall on Monday between 8-11 pm (1430-1730 GMT) with winds of 155-165 kilometres per hour (95-100 miles per hour) gusting up to 185 kmph, the Indian Meteorological Department disclosed.
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It went further to warn that storm surges of up to three metres high (10 feet) in some of Gujarat’s coastal districts were being anticipated.
The colossal swirling system visible from space exacerbated India’s dire problems dealing with a huge coronavirus surge that is killing at least 4,000 people every day and pushing hospitals to breaking point.
In waterlogged and windswept Mumbai, where authorities on Monday closed the airport for several hours and urged people to stay indoors, authorities on Sunday shifted 580 Covid patients “to safer locations” from three field hospitals.
In Gujarat, where on Sunday and overnight more than 100,000 people from 17 districts were evacuated, all Covid-19 patients in hospitals with five kilometres of the coast were also moved.
Authorities there were scrambling to ensure there would be no power cuts in the nearly 400 designated Covid hospitals and 41 oxygen plants in 12 coastal districts where the cyclone was expected to hit hardest.
‘To ensure that Covid hospitals are not faced with power outages, 1,383 power back-ups have been installed,’ senior local official Pankaj Kumar said.
‘Thirty-five ‘green corridors’ have also been made for the supply of oxygen to Covid hospitals,’ he added.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK