Cyclone Biparjoy weakens as it churns toward Pakistan after causing damage in India

Cyclone Biparjoy knocked out power and threw shipping containers into the sea in western India on Friday before weakening as it headed towards Pakistan, officials said.

A man and his son died trying to save their livestock in Gujarat state, where the storm came ashore late on Thursday after more than 180,000 people took shelter in the two countries.

The storm made landfall a night earlier, packing windspeeds of 85kph and gusting up to 105kph through the coastal regions of western Gujarat. Pakistani authorities were on high alert after evacuating 82,000 people.

Violent waves (R and L) clash into a construction by the sea due to Cyclone Biparjoy in Okha; A man wades through flooded street in Mandvi. Reuters / AP

"There was no light, it was all pitch dark. The buffaloes were wailing," farmer Usman Karmi, 48, told AFP. "I've never seen a storm like this in my life, it was very frightening."

State relief commissioner Alok Pandey told reporters that nearly 500 homes had been partially damaged after Biparjoy made landfall.

Residents watch as a car drowns in an inundated street at the coastal town of Mandvi. AFP

More than 1,000 villages around the coast were without electricity on Friday as the force of the storm knocked down power lines. Rescue crews were working to clear trees knocked onto roads and restore access to villages.

In addition to the two deaths, three people were injured in nearby Devbhumi Dwarka district, officials said. About 100,000 people who were evacuated in western India have been temporarily relocated to relief camps, authorities said.

A drone view of a tractor pushing a fallen tree to the side of the Naliya-Bhuj highway during the aftermath of Cyclone Biparjoy. Reuters

The storm did other damage upon landfall, including uprooting trees and electricity poles. Officials in the coastal town of Mandvi said heavy winds threw some shipping containers into the sea at Mundra port, one of India's largest ports.

The cyclone was expected to weaken later on Friday and move toward the neighbouring Indian state of Rajasthan on its way to southern Pakistan, which is still recovering from deadly flooding last year.

 People wait for their turn to receive free food distributed in Sujawal, Sindh province. AFP

People in that region lined up to receive food donated by charities, aid agencies and local authorities. Pakistan's national disaster management agency said the cyclone was 125km south-southwest of Keti Bandar, a port in flood-hit Sindh province. Pakistan will decide on Saturday whether displaced people can be allowed to go back.

"The storm is expected to weaken first to a cyclonic storm and then to a depression by this evening,” a government statement said.

Shakir Din, a fisherman in the coastal town of Badin, said his family and neighbors may soon return home.

A family takes shelter in an abandoned shop in the coastal town of Mandvi. AFP

The Indian Meteorological Department said Cyclone Biporjoy set a record for the longest lifespan over the Arabian Sea, more than 10 days. Cyclone Kyarr in 2019 had a life of nine days, it said.

The Gujarat government said it deployed 184 rapid action squads to rescue wild animals and clear fallen trees in Gir National Park, home to nearly 700 Asiatic lions.

A cyclist rides past an uprooted tree following heavy winds and incessant rains after landfall of cyclone in Mandvi. AP

Wind-driven rain pelted southern coastal towns in Pakistan for a second day on Friday. The cyclone was expected to cause flash floods in southern Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Sindh province experienced one of the country's deadliest floods last summer, partly induced by climate change. At least 1,739 people were killed and 33 million were displaced.