Cyclone Biparjoy – live: Two dead and nearly 1000 villages without power as storm weakens

The World Health Organisation said it was supporting Pakistan’s efforts to deal with the impact of the cyclone.

Pakistan’s government and local aid groups delivered free food and clean drinking water to displaced people.

The National Disaster Management Authority said 73,000 people had been evacuated to safer places so far, and authorities were providing them with shelter and food.

Thousands of people in India were evacuated, bringing the total number of people taken to relief camps there to 100,000.

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Pakistan security officials put out food carts in an attempt to hold back flooding.

A storm surge engulfed a bridge in Gujarat, according to an Indian journalist:

Hospitals in Pakistan have been put on high alert, and ships and boats have been moved from some areas of the coast.

Karachi, an economic hub of 20 million, faced no immediate threat, but emergency measures were being taken to protect against the expected winds and rain, said Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s climate change minister.

“There is no need to panic. Such storms are always unpredictable. But rest assured that we have all our arrangements in place,” said Rehman.

Indian authorities suspended fishing until Friday, shut schools and closed beaches.

Cyclone Biparjoy is so large it could be seen from space, according to astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, on the International Space Station:

Officials in India have declared the intensity of cyclone Biparjoy which lashed Saurashtra-Kutch region reduced from ‘very severe’ to ‘severe’ category hours after it made landfall in coastal areas of Gujarat.

The cyclone has moved northeastwards and has weakened into a cyclonic storm and will become a depression by the evening over south Rajasthan, the official said.

The cyclone has unleashed destructive wind speeds of up to 140 kph (86mph), lashing the region with incessant rains as trees and electricity poles were uprooted, while seawater entered villages in low-lying areas.

Hundreds of trees have been pulled out from Earth, as damaged communication towers, toppled electricity poles, solid objects were seen tossed over. The cyclone has raised dusty squalls that virtually resulted in zero visibility in some areas.

Several areas are hit by power cuts as strong winds broke electric wires and poles, causing a power outage in 45 villages of Maliya tehsil, the official said.

The landfall process of the ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ commenced at around 6.30pm along the coast of Saurashtra-Kutch, and was completed after midnight, an Indian official said.

The eye of the cyclone, which was churning across the Arabian Sea for more than 10 days, was located around 20km southwest of Jakhau port, 120km northwest of Devbhumi Dwarka and 50 km west-southwest of Naliya, reported Press Trust of India.

Landfall indicates a cyclonic storm moving over land after being over water.

While approaching the Gujarat coast, the cyclone moved with a speed of 13kph. During the landfall, the wind speed was 115-125kph gusting to 140 kph, the IMD said.