A city that was already reeling under the coronavirus got slammed by a powerful cyclone on Wednesday killing four people with many injured. Uprooting trees and destroying makeshift homes the cyclone entered into the mainland.
Here are five components of the story:
- The NYT reported, “The region rarely experiences cyclones, and the last storm to threaten Mumbai with such intensity was more than 70 years ago.”
- The cyclone slammed the Maharashtra coast with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph, making landfall at 12.30 pm at Alibaug near Mumbai. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the process of landfall was completed by 2.30 pm.
- The city has the highest number of coronavirus cases that made evacuation efforts difficult. In one instance, 100 Covid-19 patients were evacuated from a makeshift hospital to higher ground. Officials say they had evacuated up to 65,000 people from several coastal districts.
- An IMD bulletin said that the storm currently lays over north-central Maharashtra, more than 40 kilometers south of Nashik, 140 kilometers west-southwest of Aurangabad and 120 kilometers north-northeast of Pune.
- Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the resilience showed by people and officials helped in “mitigating the intensity” of the cyclone.
(With inputs from NYT)
