Environment

At least eight people died, over 500 houses were damaged, hundreds of trees were uprooted and roads were blocked as gale-force winds, heavy rainfall, and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra, as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat, forcing evacuation in low-lying areas on Sunday.

As anticipated the torrential rains and fierce winds, influenced by Cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea, leaving a trail of destruction in coastal areas of Kerala, when hundreds of families living close to the sea had to abandon their homes and rush to relief camps set up by the state government in the face of massive sea-incursions on Saturday evening.

The cyclone “tauktae” forming over the Arabian sea is likely to affect many Indian states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Lakshadweep island and heavy to very heavy rainfall with gusty winds for the next two to three days, has been forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

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