Ahmedabad: A father and his son were killed in their attempt to save their goats stuck in a flooded ravine in Bhavnagar district on Thursday, officials said. The cattle-rearer duo is the first of the human casualties reported due to Biparjoy, which means disaster or calamity in Bengali.
The cyclone belted out destructive wind which reached a top speed of up to 140 kmph besides the incessant rains. Hightides induced by storm led to the incursion of seawater into low-lying villages. Gusts yanked out hundreds of trees, wrecked communication towers, uprooted electricity poles, flung solid objects, and raised dusty squalls that virtually resulted in zero visibility in some areas, when it passed through.
Power cuts plunged many areas into darkness as strong winds snapped electric wires. Power outages were reported in 45 villages of Maliya tehsil, the official said. Efforts are on to resume power supply in the affected areas, officials said, adding that private electricity firms too have kept their workers on toes.
According to the state government, it has deployed 631 medical teams and 504 ambulances in the eight affected districts. Till Thursday evening, the government has sheltered over 94,000 persons who were living in vulnerable areas from the eight coastal districts. NDRF and SDRF, Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are involved in the relief and rescue operations.
