Deadly Cyclone Narrowly Misses Mumbai But Hits Coastal Areas

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – At least three people reportedly died as a powerful cyclone roared ashore near India’s financial capital of Mumbai on Wednesday. Cyclone Nisarga was the most severe storm to threaten the city of 20 million people in more than 70 years, forcing many to flee the area.

Ahead of Nisagra’s arrival, authorities evacuated some 100,000 people, including coronavirus patients. They were rushed away from flood-prone areas in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Mumbai and its surroundings are usually sheltered from cyclones with the last deadly storm hitting the area in 1948.

But the coronavirus-hit city appeared to escape the worst of Cyclone Nisarga Wednesday, with the eye of the storm narrowly missing Mumbai. However, nearby coastal areas to the south bore the brunt of the storm, killing and injuring several people.

Indian media reported at least three fatalities in Maharashtra. Among those victims was a man who died after an electric pole fell on him, and a woman and man were killed in their houses after tin sheets over their roofs blew away, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said. Eight others were reportedly injured.

The cyclone brought heavy rainfall with winds of 100-110 kilometers per hour (60-68 miles) and gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour, meteorologists said. Wednesday’s storm came as other coastal areas of India and neighboring Bangladesh still recover of last month’s Cyclone Amphan which killed scores of people.

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