Two dead after Cyclone Biparjoy hits India
At least two people have been killed and 22 injured after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in western India near the Pakistan border.
The storm weakened after hitting the Gujarat state coast on Thursday night, but is still moving across the state bringing strong winds and rains.
It has uprooted trees, ripped out electricity poles, and damaged roads in some districts.
The full extent of the damage is still yet known, say authorities.
Local media reported two cattle farmers in Bhavnagar city- a father and son - were swept away as they entered a flooded ravine to save their goats.
No other cyclone-related deaths have been reported by Indian officials.
Pakistan has also not reported any casualties, but more than 80,000 people have been displaced from their homes along the coastal belt in Sindh.
More than 170,000 people in the two countries were evacuated from low-lying regions before the arrival of the cyclone.
Makeshift shelters were also set up in school auditoriums and other government buildings in both countries.
Cyclone Biparjoy, which means "disaster" in Bengali, first hit India's port city of Jakhau in Gujarat on Thursday packing winds up to 125 km/h (78mph).
The India Meteorological Department has since reduced the classification of the storm from 'very severe' to 'severe'.
Authorities say heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the neighbouring Rajasthan state the next two days as the cyclone moves northwest.
Gujarat officials said around 99 train services would remain cancelled as the storm barrels across the state.
Cyclone Biparjoy was classified as a category one storm, the least severe on a scale of one to five, but forecasters had said it could be the area's worst storm in 25 years.
Cyclones, also known as hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the north-west Pacific, are a regular and deadly phenomenon in the Indian Ocean. Rising surface temperatures across the Arabian Sea in recent years due to climate change have made the surrounding regions even more vulnerable to devastating storms.
At least 33 deaths were reported in Pakistan last week due to heavy rains, while seven deaths were reported in India this week amid downpours.
Source: BBC
