Cyclone Biparjoy: According to Pakistan’s Geo News, Climate Energy Minister Sherry Rehman stated on Wednesday that Cyclone Biparjoy will make landfall in Sindh’s Keti Bandar on Thursday at 11 a.m. (local time).
A day before a powerful cyclone was forecast to make landfall in Pakistan and India, more than 100,000 people were taken out of harm’s way. Forecasters have issued a warning that Cyclone Biparjoy, whose name means “disaster” in Bengali, has the potential to harm both crops and homes.
Sherry Rehman addressed a news conference on Wednesday in Islamabad and discussed the storm that will reach Sindh on Thursday. She added that 66,000 residents of Sindh’s coastal areas had already been relocated to safer areas.
Sherry Rehman encouraged people to assist the police. According to her, all rescue organizations are set up for humanitarian efforts. In addition, Rehman remarked, “The true form of the cyclone will be known tomorrow,” according to Geo News.
The Pakistani Climate Minister stated that Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, and Tharparkar districts will be the hardest hit by the cyclone. She also stated that Biparjoy is moving away from Karachi and that the cyclone has compelled the authorities to suspend small aircraft operations in Pakistan.
While the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) indicated in its most recent bulletin that Cyclone Biparjoy over the northeast Arabian Sea has moved near northeastward in the last six hours, she said that the operation of commercial flights will be suspended as the cyclone approached closer to Pakistan.
According to PMD, Cyclone Biparjoy is currently located close to latitude 22.1°N and longitude 66.9°E, roughly 310 kilometers south of Karachi, 300 kilometers south of Thatta, and 240 kilometers south of Keti Bandar, according to a report by Geo News.
The statement said, that maximum sustained surface winds are 150-160 km/h with gusts to 180 km/h around the system center and sea conditions are unusual with a maximum wave height of 30 feet.
Image Credit: AFP
In support of maintaining the cyclone’s strength throughout the estimated time frame, PMD claims that good environmental conditions exist. The cyclone is expected to continue heading northeastward under the current upper-level steering winds and pass between Keti Bandar and the Gujarat coast of India on Thursday evening with packing winds of 100–120 km/h and gusts 140 km/h.
According to a statement Sherry Rehman made to the Pakistan National Assembly, all of Pakistan’s surveillance agencies, including PMD and Suparco, are collaborating with foreign satellites as Cyclone Biparjoy approaches Pakistan’s coastline. She added that the storm was leaving Balochistan and might landfall in Karachi’s coastal regions with strong winds.
Strong winds are anticipated to affect parts of the financial hub Mumbai in the neighboring Maharashtra state, which has around 27 million residents and a big fishing community. This week, high waves crashed on coastal roadways, turning them into torrents.
Along with that in India, over 45,000 residents of Gujarat state in India have been evacuated from coastal locations. Additionally, several schools have been ordered to close, leading to the relocation of livestock to higher land, and the suspension of fishing. There are heavy rain warnings in effect for parts of northern Gujarat where total rainfall might approach 10 inches, causing landslides and flash flooding.
