India, Pakistan brace for rare August cyclone, thousands evacuated, schools shut

Aug. 30, 2024, 11:41 a.m.

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Coastal towns and cities in India and Pakistan prepared for an unusual August cyclone on Friday, as heavy precipitation and strong winds prompted authorities to close schools and relocate thousands.

India’s weather office said a deep depression had formed over land and was likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Friday evening, moving north-westwards over the Arabian Sea in the next two days.

Schools in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi and parts of Kutch district in India’s Gujarat were shut, officials said, as heavy rain lashed both places.

Advertisement A cyclonic storm during August is a rare occurrence with this one being the first in decades, data from India’s weather office showed.

“Cyclone formation generally takes place over sea and then it moves over to land. This type of system is unusual because it formed over land and is now moving towards the sea,” Ashok Kumar Das, head of the Indian Meteorological Department in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, told Reuters.

Three additional deaths occurred in Gujarat overnight due to rain-related incidents, bringing the total to 31 this week. Authorities have evacuated over 8,700 people from ten districts in the state over the past 24 hours, officials reported.

“There is severe water logging in several places in Kutch district due to heavy rains over the last couple of days. We evacuated people from coastal areas and shifted them to schools and other facilities,” district collector of the Kutch district, Amit Arora, said.

Both Das and Arora indicated that the impact of the cyclonic storm was expected to diminish in Gujarat as the storm transitions from land to sea.

“Wind speeds have fallen to 40-50 kmph,” Arora said.

In neighboring Pakistan, officials warned of potential urban flooding and flash floods in rural areas due to the heavy rainfall, advising citizens to remain indoors.

Both countries warned fishermen against venturing out into the sea.

Advertisement Parts of Karachi received 147 mm (5.79 inches) of rain overnight, the local weather office said. The city’s mayor, Murtaza Wahab, in a post on X, urged residents to avoid “unnecessary movement”.