This story is from June 12, 2019

Severe cyclonic storm set to hit Veraval tomorrow

High alert was sounded in coastal districts of Gujarat as severe cyclonic storm 'Vayu' was expected to hit the coast near Veraval and Diu on Thursday.
Severe cyclonic storm set to hit Veraval tomorrow
An India Meteorological Department scientist monitors cyclon ..
AHMEDABAD/RAJKOT: High alert was sounded in coastal districts of Gujarat as severe cyclonic storm 'Vayu' was expected to hit the coast near Veraval and Diu on Thursday.
The tropical storm was stationed around 530 km south of Veraval, according to the bulletin released at 5.30 pm, and was barelling north-west at a speed of around 17 km an hour. Vayu is packing winds of 110-120 kmph speed, reaching 135 kmph while crossing the coast and is expected to bring widespread rainfall in coastal districts as well as extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, Jayanta Sarkar, director, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Gujarat, said.

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The gale and rain are likely to cause damage to thatched houses, blow away roof tops and metal sheets, disrupt power and communication lines and cause major damage to roads as well as crops, IMD warned.
With the cyclone almost certain not to change its course, local, state and central administrations along with disaster management agencies are working on a war-footing to review the situation and prepare a micro-plan to minimize the impact.
In Gandhinagar, chief secretary J N Singh conducted a video conference with district administrations concerned to review the preparedness to minimize the impact of the cyclone. "We had mapped the vulnerable areas in advance and are prepared to respond to any situation. People are being updated through loudspeakers, bulk SMSes and WhatsApp messages," Singh told reporters.

"We are in touch with the Odisha government which recently successfully battled Cyclone Fani," chief minister Vijay Rupani told mediapersons. At least 2.9 lakh people in the low-lying coastal areas of Devbhoomi Dwarka, Porbandar, Rajkot, Junagadh, Diu, Gir-Somnath, Jamnagar, Amreli, Morbi, Kutch and Bhavnagar districts are expected to be evacuated by Wednesday morning.
Union home minister reviews preparedness
The storm surge of 1-1.5 metres above astronomical tides may inundate low-lying coastal areas of these districts during the landfall.
In New Delhi, Union home minister Amit Shah chaired a high level meeting to review the preparedness of state and central ministries to deal with the situation. Shah directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health, drinking water etc. and that these are restored immediately in the event of damages caused to them. He also directed for 24x7 functioning of control rooms.
Some 4.5 lakh farmers and10,000 fishermen have been informed about the cyclone over voice messages.
In Diu, one of the favourite holiday destinations for Gujaratis, tourists have been advised to leave the Union territory and entry at all beaches will be banned from Wednesday noon. In south Gujarat too, Suvali, Tithal, Dumas, Dandi, Ubrat beaches have been closed for public as a precautionary measure as precautionary measure.
In Valsad, schools in 29 villages have been asked to declare holiday for next two days.
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