Cyclone Tauktae crosses Gujarat coast, weakens

​​​​​GANDHINAGAR: The landfall process of the eye of extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae, which had hit Gujarat coast in Saurashtra between Diu and Una around 9 pm, ended around 12 am on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said. There is no report of any casualty so far, officials said. The state government had shifted over two lakh people to safer locations before the cyclone.

In a relief to the people, the IMD, in its tweet after midnight, also announced that Cyclone Tauktae has weakened into a “very severe cyclonic storm” from the “extremely severe cyclonic storm”. “The entire eye of the cyclone has now crossed the coast and lies over land. The rear sector of the eye is now entering the land” the IMD tweeted.

The place above which the eye of a cyclone crosses is designated as the place of landfall. The process of landfall in Gujarat started on Monday around 9 pm with the entry of the “forward sector of the eye of the cyclone Tauktae” into the land near the Union Territory of Daman and Diu with a wind speed of around 150 to 175 kilometers per hour, IMD officials in Gujarat said.