Deadly Cyclone Ockhi likely to show effects on Pakistan’s coastal areas

Deadly Cyclone Ockhi likely to show effects on Pakistan’s coastal areas

A powerful cyclone that  killed over a dozen people across India and Sri Lanka is expected to impact  Pakistan’s coastal areas, the Met Office said on Saturday.

  Cyclone Ockhi is expected to enter Arabian Sea from south east   and will show effects on December 3 and 4 in  Thatta, Badin and Karachi in the form of  clouds, Geo News quoted the Met Office as saying.

The effects will subside till  December 4, the Met Office said.

Ockhi uprooted  trees and cut  power for millions amid warnings Friday that the storm would intensify in India and Sri Lanka.

Disaster officials said nine people were killed in India and seven in neighbouring Sri Lanka, most crushed by trees ripped up by destructive winds raging at 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour.

Warships were deployed to comb the southeastern coast for fishing boats missing in wild seas, India´s Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Another official said an estimated 100 crew were aboard the missing vessels, with fears held for their safety.

Torrential wind and rain unleashed by Cyclone Ockhi has shut down schools in Chennai, a coastal Indian city of seven million where conditions are set to worsen.

Images broadcast from southern India showed the scale of the destruction as the cyclone reached the shore, with electricity poles toppled and trees torn asunder.

Tourists in Kochi, a coastal city in the southern Kerala state, have been told to stay away from popular beaches where huge waves are pounding the shore.

Power was cut for millions in Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu state as the storm made its way from Sri Lanka, with India´s meteorological department warning of worse to come.

“The system is very likely to intensify further during next 24 hours,” the department said in its update.

India´s eastern coast — including state capitals like Chennai and Bhubaneswar that are home to millions — is prone to seasonal storms that wreak immense damage between April and December.

In 1999, more than 8,000 people were killed when a cyclone battered the eastern state of Orissa.

With additional input from  AFP  

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/251382-after-wreaking-havoc-across-india-sri-lanka-cyclone-ockhi-likely-to-impact-pakistans-coastal-areas