India, Pakistan brace for rare August cyclone, thousands evacuated, schools shut

Coastal towns and cities in India and Pakistan braced for a rare August cyclone on Friday, as heavy rains and winds forced authorities to close schools and evacuate thousands.

India’s weather office said a deep depression had formed over land and was likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Friday evening, moving north-westwards over the Arabian Sea in the next two days.

Schools in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi and parts of Kutch district in India’s Gujarat were shut, officials said, as heavy rain lashed both places.

A cyclonic storm during August is a rare occurrence with this one being the first in decades, data from India’s weather office showed.

“Cyclone formation generally takes place over sea and then it moves over to land. This type of system is unusual because it formed over land and is now moving towards the sea,” Ashok Kumar Das, head of the Indian Meteorological Department in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, told Reuters.

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Three more people died in Gujarat overnight from rain-related incidents, taking the toll to 31 this week, and authorities evacuated more than 8,700 people from ten districts in the state over the last 24 hours, officials said.

“There is severe water logging in several places in Kutch district due to heavy rains over the last couple of days. We evacuated people from coastal areas and shifted them to schools and other facilities,” district collector of the Kutch district, Amit Arora, said.

Both Das and Arora said the effect of the cyclonic storm was likely to lessen in Gujarat as the storm moves from land to sea.

“Wind speeds have fallen to 40-50 kmph,” Arora said.

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In neighbouring Pakistan, authorities warned of urban flooding and flash floods in rural areas due to the heavy rain, and urged citizens to stay indoors.

Both countries warned fishermen against venturing out into the sea.

Parts of Karachi received 147 mm (5.79 inches) of rain overnight, the local weather office said. The city’s mayor, Murtaza Wahab, in a post on X, urged residents to avoid “unnecessary movement”.