Major Relief! Cyclone Vayu changes course, unlikely to make landfall in Gujarat today: IMD

Cyclone Vayu: Residents of some of the Gujarat districts have been asked to move out to safer places or cyclone shelter centres.

Cyclone Vayu: In a major relief for the people of Gujarat, cyclone Vayu has changed its course and is unlikely to make landfall in the state as earlier predicted, IMD said on Thursday.

Cyclone Vayu: In a major relief for the people of Gujarat, cyclone Vayu has changed its course and is unlikely to make landfall in the state as earlier predicted, IMD said on Thursday. However,  the effect of the storm will be seen on the coastal regions as there will be heavy wind speed and heavy rain. Manorama Mohanty, scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ahmedabad was quoted as saying, "Cyclone Vayu won't hit Gujarat. It will pass nearby from Veraval, Porbandar, Dwarka. Its effect will be seen on the coastal regions as there will be heavy wind speed and heavy rain as well." "Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Vayu to skit along Saurashtra Coast this afternoon with a wind speed 135-160 kmph. Coastal districts Diu, Gir Somnath, Junagarh, Porbandar, Dwarka will be affected," Mohanty added. Secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences M Rajeevan also confirmed the news saying, "It (Cyclone Vayu) may not make landfall. It will only skirt the coast. It has made a small deviation. But, its effect will be there with strong winds and heavy rain,"

Manorama Mohanty, scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ahmedabad: #CycloneVayu won't hit Gujarat. It will pass nearby from Veraval, Porbandar, Dwarka. Its effect will be seen on the coastal regions as there will be heavy wind speed and heavy rain as well pic.twitter.com/tt57jsbjWt

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

Manorama Mohanty, scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ahmedabad: Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Vayu to skit along Saurashtra Coast this afternoon with a wind speed 135-160 kmph. Coastal districts Diu, Gir Somnath, Junagarh, Porbandar, Dwarka will be affected. pic.twitter.com/tXjj5h62DH

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

IMD Additional Director General Devendra Pradhan said the cyclone will remain in the sea and move parallel to the Gujarat coast.  "It has taken a slight westward movement. It will go parallel to the Gujarat coast," Pradhan said. "It is very likely to move north-northwestwards for some time and then northwestwards skirting the Saurashtra coast affecting Gir Somnath, Diu, Junagarh, Porbandar and Devbhoomi Dwarka with wind speed between 135 and 145 kmph, gusting to 160 kmph from June 13 afternoon," the Cyclone Warning Division said in its 8:30 am bulletin.

Maharashtra:Beaches closed for public in Konkan region in view of cyclonic formation Vayu in Arbian Sea;#Visuals from Mahim beach in Mumbai. As per IMD's latest update,#CycloneVayu won't hit Gujarat;its effect will be seen on coastal regions in forms of heavy wind speed&high rain pic.twitter.com/pw5TL14fpr

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

Meanwhile, six teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are on alert in Porbandar and are on standby at Chowpatty beach.

Gujarat: Six teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are on alert in Porbandar; #visuals of an NDRF team (of 30 members) standby at Chowpatty beach. As per latest update of IMD, #CycloneVayu won't hit Gujarat, but will have effect on coastal districts pic.twitter.com/Ux1x3u1XNO

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

In the wake of the alert, residents of some of the Gujarat districts were asked to move out to safer places or cyclone shelter centres. The Gujarat and Diu administration have evacuated about three lakh people from the identified vulnerable areas and shifted them to around 700 cyclone and relief shelters.

IMD: #CycloneVayu very likely to move nearly north-northwestwards along Saurashtra coast affecting Amreli, Gir Somnath, Diu,Junagarh, Porbandar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka&Kutch dist of Gujarat with wind speed 155-165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph likely from afternoon,13 June pic.twitter.com/xlA33ikQ6m

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) where preparation for relief and rescue operations were discussed threadbare. Telling about the evacuation process, Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted, "Gujarat has evacuated about 3 lakh people and Diu has evacuated over 10,000 people from low-lying areas to safer places. Indian Coast Guard, Navy, Army & Air Force units have also been put on standby. Aircraft and helicopters are carrying out aerial surveillance".

Gujarat has evacuated about 3 lakh people and Diu has evacuated over 10,000 people from low lying areas to safer places.

Indian Coast Guard, the Navy, Army & Air Force units have also been put on standby. Aircrafts and helicopters are carrying out aerial surveillance. — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) June 12, 2019

#CycloneVayu UPDATE- #TEAMNDRFINDIA Evacuation, Sensitisation & Awareness at various locations. #NDRF4INDIA @satyaprad1 @PIBHomeAffairs @ndmaindia pic.twitter.com/GDkL6Z1a8n

— NDRF (@NDRFHQ) June 12, 2019

With cyclone expected to hit the Gujarat, several parts along the Maharashtra and Goa coast have been witnessing strong winds and rains since yesterday. CM Vijay Rupani met senior officials of the state, officers from the Army & NDRF and District Magistrates

Gujarat: CM Vijay Rupani held a meeting with senior officials of the state, officers from the Army & NDRF and District Magistrates, in Gandhinagar, today. #CycloneVayu is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar&Mahuva as a very severe cyclonic storm tomorrow morning. pic.twitter.com/FJBeC4bgaT

— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2019

Gujarat CM: 47 troops of NDRF have reached Gujarat, 5-6 more teams will reach by morning. Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard have taken their positions. State Disaster Mgmt is at work. Police patrolling will be done throughout the night so that no one is left in the lower regions https://t.co/9WrXsCR0dx

— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2019

Weather report

According to the latest weather report, the cyclone has intensified into a "very severe cyclonic storm" and changed its course slightly. Now, it would hit the Gujarat coast anywhere between Veraval in the south and Dwarka in the west on Thursday afternoon. The cyclone is now located around 200 km south, south-west of Veraval and "is very likely to move nearly northwards and hit the Gujarat coast with wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph around afternoon of June 13," a release issued by the MeT department said.

The VSCS VAYU over Eastcentral Arabian Sea lay centred at 1730 IST of 12th June, 2019 about 200 km south-southwest of Veraval (Gujarat). It is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Dwarka and Veraval as VSCS with wind speed 155-165 kmph around afternoon of 13th June 2019 pic.twitter.com/M21nxpKw2z

— India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) June 12, 2019

It would hit the coast near Veraval as a very severe cyclonic storm "with a wind speed of 145 to 155 kmph gusting to 170 kmph around morning of June 13," a release issued by the meteorological department said.

Trains canceled, transport services, port ops halted

• Considering the alertness for Cyclone Vayu over Gujarat, the Railways has cancelled 70 trains and will short terminate 28 others due to Cyclone Vayu, the Western Railways said.

Western Railway: Western Railway has decided to cancel 7 more trains & short terminate with partial cancellation another 5 trains, as a precautionary measure in the cyclone prone areas over Western Railway. Total 110 trains of Western Railway have been affected. #CycloneVayu pic.twitter.com/1GE4YSiD3o

— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2019

• The Airports Authority of India announced that flight operations will remain suspended at five airports in Gujarat for 24 hours from midnight Wednesday to minimise the damage to airport infrastructure and to avoid inconvenience to passengers due to the cyclone. • Since all airports in Kutch and Saurashtra regions have been asked to shut their operations completely, flights to these destinations from Ahmedabad airport stand cancelled for Thursday. • Gujarat coastline have also been halted temporarily as a precautionary measure against cyclone 'Vayu', the state government said.

Preparations to deal with the cyclone

• The Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force and the Border Security Force have been put on high alert. • While the state government has said all fishermen and their boats have already returned to the shore after getting the warning, ports have been asked to hoist storm warning signal number 8 and 9 to convey "great danger".

#WATCH Gujarat: Visuals from the Chowpatty beach in Porbandar. #CycloneVayu is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva as a very severe cyclonic storm, today. More than 2.75 Lakh people in the state have been evacuated. pic.twitter.com/bwhf7IczXi

— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2019

• To help authorities in relief and rescue work, the railways has kept special trains ready for deployment in those areas after the cyclone makes a landfall. • Based on the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) advice, Great Danger 8 (GD-8) signal has been hoisted at Porbandar and Okha ports, while GD-9 signal has been hoisted at Diu, Veraval, Navlakhi, New-Kandla, Sikka, Mundra, Madvi and Jakhau ports. • Police would do night patrolling in vulnerable areas to make sure no one is left behind, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue, Pankaj Kumar said. • In addition, 11 columns of Army, two companies of BSF, 14 companies of State Reserve Police and 300 commandos of state marine police were also deployed at different locations in Kutch and Saurashtra region.

#CycloneVayu to hit #Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Diu and Veraval on 13th Jun early morning as a very severe cyclonic storm with wund speed around 150 kmph gusting upto 170 kmph. pic.twitter.com/cqp0guzuBl

— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) June 12, 2019

• A defence release said the Army has allotted 24 columns on standby and is ready to carry out any rescue and relief operations. Each column has a strength of about 70 people from infantry/artillery, signal, engineers and Army medical corps. • Ships and aircraft of this region were dispersed at various places to enable search and rescue readiness post landfall of cyclone.

Nearly 1000 #TEAMNDRFINDIA personnel including medical & rescue experts ???????????????????? ???????? in 24 hrs to join many more NDRF rescuers on ground to help citizens of Gujarat & Diu in their difficulty.Friends we will be there till you need us ! @NDRFHQ @HMOIndia @PMOIndia @CMGUJARAT pic.twitter.com/WwOMYokfRQ

— ѕαtчα n prαdhαn, dírєctσr gєnєrαl,ndrf (@satyaprad1) June 12, 2019

• Holiday has been declared in schools, colleges and 'anganwadis' on Wednesday and Thursday in these 10 districts, he said. • As a precautionary measure, the Indian Railways has announced that all the trains for this region have been either short-terminated or cancelled for two days, starting 6 pm Wednesday. • Since all the airports in Kutch and Saurashtra region have been asked to shut their operations completely, flights to these destinations from Ahmedabad Airport stand cancelled for Thursday.

PM Modi's appeal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday advised people in his home state to follow real-time information being given by local agencies to stay safe.

Praying for the safety and well-being of all those affected by Cyclone Vayu.

The Government and local agencies are providing real-time information, which I urge those in affected areas to closely follow. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 12, 2019

"Praying for safety and well-being of all those affected by Cyclone Vayu. The government and local agencies are providing real-time information, which I urge those in affected areas to closely follow," Modi tweeted. (with inputs from PTI)