Fourteen bodies have been recovered off the coast of Mumbai after a barge sunk during a powerful cyclone. The search is underway for the scores of people still missing.
Three ships and helicopters have been deployed to look for the 78 people still missingImage: Indian Navy/AP Photo/picture alliance
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Fourteen people have been confirmed dead after a barge sank off Mumbai during a massive cyclone that battered the India's west coast.
The Indian navy has been hampered by rough seas and extreme weather conditions as rescuers search for scores of people still missing.
The navy said 184 people had been rescued within 24 hours from barge "P305," which was working for India's top exploration company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Three naval ships and helicopters are now searching for 78 people still missing .
Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm the region has seen in over two decades, made landfall on India's western coast late Monday.
India: Cyclone Tauktae leaves trail of destruction
More than 20 people have been reported dead and scores are missing after a monster cyclone slammed into western India. The massive storm comes as the country battles a devastating surge of coronavirus infections.
Image: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images
Most severe storm in decades
Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to hit western India in more than two decades, brought sustained winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour when it came ashore on the coast of Gujarat state late Monday. The cyclone, which was categorized as "extremely severe," weakened to a "very severe" storm after making landfall, Indian meteorologists said.
Image: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images
Storm prompts mass evacuations
Ahead of the cyclone, about 200,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas in Maharashtra and Gujarat states. Both states are already among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Image: Francis Mascarenhas/REUTERS
Infrastructure destroyed
The cyclone knocked out power in 2,400 villages in Gujarat after a thousand electricity pylons were damaged. Nearly 160 roads have been destroyed, 40,000 trees uprooted and several houses damaged, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said.
Image: Rafiq Maqbool/AP/picture alliance
Vaccination centers close
Severe weather conditions forced Gujarat health authorities to suspend COVID vaccinations for two days. State Chief Minister Vijay Rupani requested officials to ensure that oxygen supplies for hospitals were not disrupted during the storm. According to State Revenue Secretary Pankaj Kumar, 1,383 power backups were installed to ensure coronavirus hospitals were not faced with power outages.
Image: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
Dozens feared missing at sea
The Indian navy said Tuesday it had rescued 177 people who were aboard a capsized oil-rig support vessel off the coast of Mumbai, with 96 people still missing. Another vessel ran aground, with all 137 personnel brought to safety. Authorities have deployed three warships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters to carry out rescue operations, which are being hampered by the rough conditions.
Image: Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo/picture alliance
Cyclone tears through villages
The storm damaged infrastructure and agriculture along the western coast, while heavy rains continued to flood some regions. Here, fishermen and women are seen mending bamboo racks used to dry fish after they were brought down by strong winds in a fishing village off the coast in Mumbai. In Maharashtra state, six people were killed, but Mumbai was largely spared from major damage.
Image: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
Clearing roads a priority
Officials have said that oxygen manufacturing was not hit by the storm, and hospitals with COVID patients were unaffected. "Our priority is to clear the roads, so there is no impact on oxygen movement" due to the cyclone, said Gaurang Makwana,
an official in Bhavnagar district in Gujarat.
Image: Francis Mascarenhas/REUTERS
Impact of climate change
Tropical cyclones are less common in the Arabian Sea than on India's east coast, and typically form later in the year. But although the storms do not occur frequently, experts warn climate change will cause them to become more severe.
Image: Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty Images
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In a separate operation, a navy chopper rescued 35 people aboard another barge that was also engaged by ONGC and ran aground north of Mumbai.
The crude oil and natural gas company said that the two barges were carrying people employed for offshore drilling and slipped their moorings when the storm hit.
Tauktae caused huge ocean swells, flooding and strong winds, wreaking havoc in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat over the last two days.
According to authorities, at least 29 more people have died in the two states.
More than 16,000 houses have been damaged and trees and power poles uprooted in Gujarat, where the cyclone came ashore packing sustained winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour.
Cyclone ravages COVID-hit region
Both Maharashtra and Gujarat are also among the Indian states hardest hit by a deadly second wave of the coronavirus.
The storm has put under further pressure authorities who are already battling a massive rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths amid a shortage of beds and medical oxygen in hospitals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to conduct an aerial survey later Wednesday of the storm-hit areas of Gujarat — his home state.
Meanwhile, the cyclone has weakened into a depression over the south of Rajasthan and Gujarat, a statement by the Indian Meteorological Department said.
