Cyclone Tauktae weakens after making landfall on Gujarat coast

The landfall process of the eye of extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae which hit the Gujarat coast in Saurashtra region between Diu and Una ended around midnight the India Meteorological Department IMD said on TuesdayState officials said there are no reports of any casualty due to the tropical storm Tauktae adding it has weakenedThe IMD also announced that the cyclone has weakened into a very severe cyclonic storm from the extremely severe cyclonic stormThe entire eye of the cyclone has now crossed the coast and lies over land The rear sector of the eye is now entering the land the IMD said in a tweet after midnightLandfall is the storm moving over the land after its intensification in the ocean heat source A cyclone is said to make landfall when the centre of the storm eye moves across the coastThe landfall brings with it highspeed winds severe storm surge and torrential downpour The storm usually weakens rapidly after landfall as the ocean heat and moisture that fuels it are no longer availableThe cyclone hit the coast between Diu and Una around 9 pm on Monday and ended around midnight the IMD saidThe state government had shifted over two lakh people to safer locations before the cyclone hit the Gujarat coastThe place above which the eye of a cyclone crosses is designated as the place of landfall an official saidThe landfall process started with the entry of the forward sector of the eye of the cyclone into the land near the Union Territory of Diu with a wind speed of between 150 and 175 km per hour IMD officials saidThe cyclone brought gusty winds and heavy rains on the entire coastal belt uprooting trees in Junagadh Amreli and Bhavnagar districts said district officialsThe regional meteorological centre said the cyclone will move towards northern GujaratIt will move towards Amreli district and then towards Banaskantha after crossing Surendranagar district We expect it will weaken as it moves forward an official saidWhile there are no reports of any human injury or death gusty winds coupled with heavy rain uprooted several trees and electricity towers on the coastal belt another official saidThe cyclone winds also caused road blockage and power outages in many villages of these districtsGujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had said before the landfall that coastal districts of Amreli Junagadh Gir Somnath and Bhavnagar will face the maximum brunt as the wind speed would go up to 150 kmph when the eye of the storm would make landfallA major cyclone in Gujarat on June 9 1998 had brought widespread death and destruction in its wake particularly in the port town of KandlaWhile official figures had then put the death toll at 1173 adding 1774 went missing media reports eyewitness and volunteer accounts suggested that this was grossly an understatementA leading news magazine had then claimed that at least 4000 people had died and countless went missing as bodies were washed to the seaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever