AHMEDABAD, India, June 16 (Reuters) - Early warnings, accurate identification of vulnerable areas and timely evacuations helped India to avert major casualties from cyclone Biparjoy, which battered the west coast near Pakistan late on Thursday, authorities said.
India and Pakistan evacuated more than 180,000 people from the coastal areas to safety ahead of the cyclone.
In 1998, a major storm in Gujarat killed about 4,000 people, according to local media, while in 2021, close to 100 people died in an 'extremely severe cyclone' named Tauktae.
"Early identification of areas that were likely to be impacted by the cyclone and timely evacuation of people living within 10 km of the coasts are the biggest reasons" for low casualties, said Kamal Dayani, a senior Gujarat official.
[1/5] A drone view of a broken bridge during the aftermath of Cyclone Biparjoy after it made landfall, along the Naliya-Bhuj highway, in the western state of Gujarat, , India, June 16, 2023.
Persons:
Kamal Dayani, Francis Mascarenhas, Atul Karwal, Dayani, Sumit Khanna, Sudipto Ganguly, Kevin Liffey, Conor Humphries
Organizations:
Biparjoy, REUTERS, Authorities, Force, Thomson
Locations:
AHMEDABAD, India, Pakistan, Gujarat, Bhuj, Kutch, Ahmedabad, Mumbai