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| Cyclone 'Phyan' crosses western coast, spares Mumbai |
| Press Trust Of India / Mumbai/Ahmedabad/Panaji Nov 12, 2009, 00:53 IST |
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Cyclone Phyan crossed the western coast this evening just close to Mumbai, but spared the metropolis and weakened without causing any major damage, bringing relief after authorities sounded an alert and shut schools and offices in the financial capital.
The storm, however, dumped a huge amount of rain after it roared towards the coast with wind speeds up to 75 kmph amid reports that 200 fishermen were missing in the rough seas.
“The cyclonic storm has crossed the coast between Mumbai and Alibaug at 1530-1630 hours and will further move towards north and north-east. It is expected to weaken within the next six hours,” said IMD (Mumbai) Director Sati Devi said.
Cyclone alert was removed in Mumbai and Gujarat, Met officials said.
However, authorities were on guard. The cyclone has been named by Myanmar and it comes from the Burmese word ‘Phyan’, which means a “cherry which has fallen off a tree”.
The weather bureau has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rains at isolated places in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts in Maharashtra, Goa, districts of Madhya Pradesh and south Gujarat over the next 24 hours.
A Mumbai International Airport Limited spokesperson said there was an average delay of two hours in flight departures.
School and college students and government employees rushed home in pelting rain and extra buses were deployed.
Train services on the western and central lines were running according to the schedule, while traffic snarls were reported from several parts of Mumbai.
In Panaji, Mandovi Fisheries Corporation chairperson Menino Alfonso said nearly 200 men in about 30 fishing trawlers were missing.
But there was good news in Gujarat when most of the 400 fishermen stranded in 60 boats, some 40 nautical miles off the Daman coast, returned to the shore.
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