The cyclonic storm Vayu has changed its direction to northwest and may not hit the coast
There may eventually be no landfall for Cyclone Vayu in Saurashtra as predicted earlier. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on June 13, 2019 said the cyclonic storm would likely move northwest, passing around the Saurashtra coast by afternoon.
The cyclone may affect many districts, including Gir Somnath, Diu, Junagarh, Porbandar and Devbhumi Dwarka with wind speed gusting up to 160 kilometres per hour.
At 8:30 am ithe storm was about 160 km south-southwest of Diu, 110 km southwest of Veraval and 140 km south of Porbandar.
Cyclone ‘VAYU’ over Arabian Sea at 0830 hrs IST of today, the 13th June, 2019 about 160 km south-southwest of Diu, 110 km southwest of Veraval (Gujarat) & 140 km south of Porbandar (Gujarat). To skirt Saurashtra coast with wind speed 135-145 kmph from today afternoon. pic.twitter.com/hhHsdsvCl7
— India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) June 13, 2019
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a review meeting in Capital Gandhi Nagar on the state administration's preparedness on June 12. He reportedly instructed officials to make all possible arrangements with the mission of ‘Zero Tolerance and Zero Casualty’. The same day, 154 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and six tonne of relief material were flown to Jamnagar.
“Evacuations are still on ... but authentic figures are not yet reported by the teams,” an NDRF official told DTE on June 13 morning. The authorities have planned to evacuate nearly 300,000 people from areas that the cyclone may affect.
Private forecaster Skymet Weather predicted that windspeed would slow down as the cyclonic system moves north-northwest. After it skirts the Gujarat coast it would encounter an anti-cyclone over North Arabian Sea, resulting in stagnation near the Karachi coast, Pakistan. There is also a likelihood of Vayu not making a landfall and weakening on the sea itself.
The cyclone's build-up has been keenly watched for the past few days even as it affected wind patterns, contributing to a prolonged heatwave in north India.
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