Cyclonic Storm ‘Kyarr’ May Hit Karnataka & Gujarat on Diwali, Coast Guards on High Alert
Bengaluru
The cyclonic storm ‘Kyarr’ may dampen Diwali festivities as the weather office has forecast of heavy rains and gusty winds in Karnataka on Sunday.
“The westward moving cyclonic storm Kyarr will hit the state on Sunday with heavy rains and thunder showers in the coastal and south interior areas, disrupting normal life for the next two days,” Karnataka state natural disaster monitoring centre director GS Srinivas Reddy said.
“The sea condition is very likely to be high to very high over east-central Arabian Sea during next 24 hours and phenomenal thereafter. It will be rough to very rough along & off north Karnataka coast during next 24 hours,” the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.Parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra are also likely to receive light to moderate rains and thundershower over the next four days with ‘Kyaar’ hovering over the Arabian Sea.
The met department said the sea will become “rough to very rough” along and off the south Gujarat coast during the next 24 hours until Sunday afternoon.The met department also advised fishermen not to venture into south Gujarat coast for the period due to the prevailing sea condition.Meanwhile, Karnataka has declared red alert in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada and holiday for schools and colleges as moderate to heavy rains lashed the region and flooded low-laying areas, throwing normal life out of gear.
“Kayarr is likely to mar the festival with heavy rains and strong winds over the next 24-48 hours in south interior, north interior and coastal areas,” Reddy said.”It is very likely to move west-north-westwards towards Oman coast during the next five days. It is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours,” as per IMD. Since October 18, 21 have people died due to strong winds, floods, wall collapses, drowning and uprooted trees. Besides death of 171 cattle, 14,680 houses were damaged and 5,450 people sheltered in relief camps.
