First Cyclone of the year "Tauktae" wreaked havoc on the Western Coast of India

Earlier in the month of May a low-pressure area started building up in the Arabian sea for potential tropical cyclone development and the India Meteorological Department started monitoring this low pressure from May 13. This tropical cyclone was named Tauktae by the country Myanmar which means 'gecko', a highly vocal lizard in the Burmese language. It was the first extremely severe cyclonic storm of the year 2021 in the North Indian Ocean cyclone season.

The cyclonic storm Tauktae was originated from a tropical disturbance which later drifted eastward turning into a deep depression by May 14 and it further continued to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on May 15. As per the reports, it started to affect the coast of the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra before it rapidly intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm during the early hours of May 16. Early on May 17, Tauktae further intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm reaching its peak intensity and later gradually weakened before making landfall in the coast of the state Gujarat on the same day.

Tauktae caused heavy rainfall and flash floods to many areas along the coast of Kerala, Lakshadweep, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. According to the reports, a total of 169 people died (10 people died in Kerala, 8 people died in Karnataka, 3 people died in Goa, 18 people died in Maharashtra, 64 people died in Gujarat and 66 people died from the sinking of ONGC’s Barge P305) and around 80 people were injured during this period of time. Moreover, around 11,774,038 people have been affected, 257,135 evacuated and over 56,846 houses have been damaged due to the cyclone. 69,429 electric poles and 196 roads got damaged as well as more than 40,000 trees were also uprooted. The water supply system in 5,951 villages were hampered as well.

Furthermore, power-outages and other electrical problems prevailed in the impacted regions. Airports were also closed for safety reasons during this period of time.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) further generated an orange alert for Delhi and adjoining parts of Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh on May 19 and warned regarding localized flooding, waterlogging on low-lying areas and closures of underpasses in hilly areas.

The analysts of Cybertech Risk Center generated real-time alerts on this incident and closely monitored the situation providing its clients with timely alerts about the same. We at Cybertech Risk centre cover Flooding and Storm under the “Meteorological” category that could be the reason of disruption for the client’s business continuity process, working in collaboration with NC4 providing pan India coverage.