Chetak Helicopter saves 2 stranded employees of Light House Authority from Vengrula Light House

Panaji, May 18: Chetak Helicopter, operating from Coast Guard Air Enclave Goa, rescued 2 stranded employees of Light House Authority from Vengrula Light House, 38 nautical miles north of Vasco on Tuesday. The lighthouse had power failure and was damaged due to high-speed wind and rough sea in the wake of Cyclone Tauktae.

 

 

The cyclonic storm Tauktae formed over the Arabian Sea, which intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm by Monday morning, caused gusty winds and heavy rains in Mumbai. The wind speed of 114 kmph was recorded around 2 pm at the weather station based at Afghan Church in south Mumbai’s Colaba area, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.

 

 

Several incidents of uprooted trees and collapsed buildings were reported from the city. Two barges with 410 persons onboard went adrift off the Mumbai coast. The Indian Navy Search and Rescue team – INS Kolkata – has sailed out for assistance.

 

 

Tauktae is the fourth cyclone in consecutive years to have developed in the Arabian Sea, that too in the pre-monsoon period (April to June). All these cyclones since 2018 have been categorised either ‘Severe Cyclone’ or above. Once Tauktae makes its landfall, three of these will have hit either the Gujarat or Maharashtra coast. After Cyclone Mekanu in 2018, which struck Oman, Cyclone Vayu in 2019 struck Gujarat, followed by Cyclone Nisarga in 2020 that struck Maharashtra.

 

 

Tauktae has been intensifying very rapidly. From a depression formed in the southeast Arabian Sea on May 14 morning, it strengthened into a VSCS by the early hours of May 16. Compared to Tauktae’s 2 days, Cyclone Vayu had taken 36 hours to become a VSCS, while Cyclone Mekanu (4 days) and Cyclone Nisarga (5 days) had developed slower. Also, the first cyclones to form in 2020 and 2021 were in the Arabian Sea during the pre-monsoon period, both in the VSCS category.

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