Two fishermen were killed and thousands were evacuated to safer places after Cyclone Gulab hit India’s east coast affected by strong winds and heavy rains on Sunday (26), officials said.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the cyclone touched down between the coastal states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh between 6:00 pm local time (after 9:00 am in Brasilia) with wind gusts up to 95.
According to local media reports, two fishermen were killed when their boat traveling between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh capsized.
According to the Indian Express newspaper, three other fishermen managed to swim ashore and a sixth person on the boat went missing.
According to the Meteorological Department, the storm that formed in the Bay of Bengal was accompanied by “extremely heavy rains”, which warned of “danger of flash floods in some areas”.
However, the intensity of the rose should subside “in the next few hours”, he said.
According to residents, trees were uprooted in Andhra Pradesh, where around 110,000 families were moved to temporary public shelters.
Officials in the two at-risk states asked residents living near the coast to seek refuge and sent hundreds of first responders to the area.
“We have already moved more than 20,000 people to schools and government buildings that have been converted into cyclone shelters,” senior AFP official Bankim Hazra said.
Every year, more and more cyclones are visible in the Indian Ocean, a fact that scientists attribute to climate change.
