Cyclone Tauktae: Sonu Sood seeks help for people stranded at sea, urges CM to save lives

Actor Sonu Sood recently took to Twitter and sought help for a bunch of people stuck in the middle of the Arabian Sea due to Cyclone Tauktae. The cyclone that is wreaking havoc in the coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm within the next 24 hours and will cross the western coast of Gujarat in the early morning of May 18. In such severe conditions, the actor tried to arrange for some help for the stranded people and urged Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to ‘mobilise their machinery on saving these precious lives.’

Sonu Soon urges Karnataka CM to save lives

The actor shared a picture of the stranded people who were seen wearing life jackets amid the tormenting storm trying to seek help. In the caption, Sonu wrote: 
 

Soon after his post, one of the Twitter users thanked the actor for quickly responding to his text. The user also shared the latest video of the people where they can be seen asking for ‘immediate help’ as the intensity of the storm, the rain was increasing rapidly. The clip showed the man crying and asking for help while showing the rough conditions and how they have been waiting for the chopper for a long time, but in vain. 

Cyclone Tuktae 

Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall, and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on May 16, leaving six people dead, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees, and forcing evacuation in low-lying areas. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Tauktae which has taken the form of a "very severe cyclonic storm" is likely to intensify further during the next 24 hours and reach the Gujarat coast on May 17 evening. Strong winds with speed reaching up to 90 km/per were lashing the western coastal region. According to the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD, by May 18 the wind speed is expected to increase to 150-160 km per hour, gusting up to 175 km per hour. An estimated 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat while 54 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the state. 

(Image credit: SONU SOOD/ Instagram/ SONU_SOOD/ Twitter/ PTI)