AHMEDABAD: High winds and heavy rains pounded western India on Thursday as a major cyclone expected to hit the coast veered away instead into the Arabian Sea.

Vayu, classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, moved north-northwestwards in the night over the Arabian Sea, and was around 110 kilometres from the coast of Gujarat state.

It was “very likely” to keep moving in the same direction, but still skirt the coast, packing winds of 135-145 kilometres per hour and gusts of 160 kilometres per hour, the India Meteoro­logical Department (IMD) said.

“The threat of surge in wind, dust storm and rainfall remains very much. The centre of the storm — known as the eye — has slightly moved away from the Gujarat coast, but its diameter is well over 900 kilometres,” an IMD official told local media.

Heavy rains are likely to continue until Saturday, Gujarat IMD chief Jayanta Sarkar said.

On Wednesday, forecasters had been bracing for the system to hit Gujarat with full force winds equivalent to a category one or two hurricane.

Authorities in Gujarat evacuated more than 285,000 people as a precaution. Schools have been closed, with officials fearing major damage to houses, crops, power lines and communications.

Five people have been killed by lightning in Gujarat, mostly farmers and labourers working in fields, authorities said.

On Thursday, the eye of the cyclone was some 110 kilometres from Veraval, a major hub of India’s fisheries industry, exporting to Japan, South East Asia, Europe, the Gulf and the United States.

The state also houses major ports as well as the Jamnagar oil refinery, the world’s largest.

All ports in Gujarat halted the berthing of vessels from Wednesday, while Indian Rai­l­ways cancelled 77 trains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who comes from Gujarat, said on Wednesday that the central government was closely monitoring the situation.

“Praying for the safety and well-being of all those affected by Cyclone Vayu,” he tweeted.

Cyclones are relatively rare in Gujarat, but they can be destructive and dangerous. The worst was in 1998 when more than 4,000 people died.

Vayu is India’s second major storm this year. In May, Cyclone Fani — with winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour — killed around 80 people in eastern India and Bangladesh, damaging half a million houses and knocking out power, water and communications.

But Odisha authorities won praise from the United Nations and others for evacuating more than a million people and averting what could have been a much higher death toll.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2019