Precautions taken but Cyclone Maha likely to skirt Gujarat coast

In the newest warning over the Very Severe Cyclone Maha, the Indian Metrology Department (IMD) has stated that it might be possible that the cyclone might not make landfall at the Gujarat coast altogether. Till 10 am on November 6, the warning was that the VSC Maha was expected to make landfall at the Gujarat Coast - specifically at Diu. At that time, the wind speed was expected to be 70 kmph at the time of landfall which was predicted to be between November 6 midnight and wee hours of the morning of November 7. However, around noon, the pattern of the cyclone was showing to be weakened.

The new prediction for Cyclone Maha

The latest prediction of the cyclone by IMD states that the cyclone will skirt the Gujarat Coast altogether and is not expected to make landfall. In fact, the warning for 'Extremely severe cyclone storm' has now been predicted to skirt the Gujarat coast as a 'mild cyclonic storm'. The wind speed for the same is expected to be 55kmph. This particularly means to be good news for Gujarat since it will not lead to any disruption except rainfall in the coastal pockets of the state.

"There have been directional changes in the cyclone. Earlier it was categorised as an extremely severe cyclonic storm but it changed direction west-northwestward and also there was a deep depression. Because of this, the cyclone was predicted by us to weaken two days back. Now it is showing to be weakening further which means there will be no danger to people in Gujarat and only heavy rainfall expected. These kinds of cyclones fluctuate due to several favourable and unfavourable circumstances in the seawater which weakened the cyclone," said IMD's Director, Forecast, Manorama Mohanty on Wednesday.

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The state government prepared

The state government, however, has said they are prepared for any and all outcomes of the Cyclone Maha. The Gujarat State Government released a statement saying that the NDRF teams have been deployed for precautionary purposes and that no evacuation will be required as of now. "We have always been proactive in making sure that there are no untoward incidents when calamities strike. This time, too, NDRF teams were deployed in ample time. But fortunately, the cyclone is weakening and thus no evacuation is required. But the teams will be deployed in the coastal regions till the cyclone passes," an official of CMO shared with Republic.

Read: Cyclone Maha likely to bring heavy rain to south Gujarat from Nov 6

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