India Hit by Cyclone amid Coronavirus Crisis
May 18, 2021
CNN reports that India has been hit, amid the coronavirus crisis in the country, by the strongest storm on record to reach its west coast.
Tropical Cyclone Tauktae made landfall on Monday night in Gujarat. The state was hit with maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour. According to the Indian Meteorological Department it had, by Tuesday morning, weakened from an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” to a “severe cyclonic storm.”
At least 26 people across the coastal states of Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra were killed, from drowning at sea, collapsed houses, lightning strikes and other accidents as a result of Tauktae. Trees and power lines have been downed by ferocious winds, while highways were flooded by heavy rains.