The cyclone has killed at least two people and left about 4,600 villages without electricity in India.

The cyclone that hit India this Thursday killed at least two people and left about 4,600 villages without power.

The cyclone, dubbed Biparjoy, moved across the Arabian Sea towards the port of Jakhau in the Indian state of Gujarat and hit the coast between western India and southern Pakistan. Reuters.

The advance warning, the evacuation of people and the identification of the most vulnerable areas will prevent more casualties from appearing in India, authorities said.

“Our goal from the very beginning was to prevent the death of not only people, but also animals,” said Kamal Dayani, a senior government official in Gujarat, who was quoted by the publication. Reuters.

Two of the dead were in the Indian state of Gujarat and were washed away by flood waters. Torrential rain and strong winds uprooted trees and damaged power poles, leaving thousands of people in more than 4,600 villages without power on Friday.

In Pakistan, only the city of Karachi was on high alert due to heavy rain. However, the Pakistan Meteorological Agency has suggested that local authorities remain vigilant until Saturday.

The passage of the cyclone has resulted in more than 180,000 people being evacuated from their homes in India and Pakistan in recent days.

According to the director general of India’s meteorological department, Cyclone Biparjoy has lessened in intensity after passing through two countries.

“Biparjoy” means “catastrophe” or “calamity” in Bengali. However, the cyclone was classified as a Category 1 storm on a five-point scale.

In 1998, a storm that hit Gujarat killed about 4,000 people. In 2021, 100 people died as a result of the passage of the Tauktae cyclone.