[ChiragM]

Projected to be among India’s strongest cyclones in the last two decades over the Arabian Sea, Cyclone Tauktae moved along India’s western coast causing widespread rains and destruction — with more mayhem expected today.

• Two people were killed in Goa, according to state CM Pramod Sawant while 500 trees were felled due to the strong winds. About 200 houses were also damaged, he added while the power supply, which was also disrupted, will take two days to restore. All operations at the Goa airport were suspended for a day due to gale force winds and poor visibility.

• Kerala, which has been pounded by torrential rains preceding the cyclone as also high tidal waves, reported the deaths of two people in Ernakulam and Kozhikode along with waterlogging in several parts, while in Karnataka, eight people were killed and 73 villages across six districts — three in the coastal region and three in the Western Ghats — were completely decimated due to the cyclone's impact.

• 29 people were reported missing as well — 10 each from Kerala and Tamil Nadu plus nine from Karnataka.

• Another two people — sisters aged 17 years and 12 years — were killed and their mother seriously injured when a tree, uprooted due to the strong winds, fell on their hut in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district.

• The cyclone, according to a bulletin issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), as of Sunday night 9 pm, was centered 190 km northwest of Panjim, 270 km south-southwest of Mumbai and 510 km south-southwest of Veraval in Gujarat. It was moving north-northwest wards at a speed of 19kmph. It is expected to reach Gujarat either today evening or early tomorrow morning, with wind speeds at landfall in the range of 155-165kmph.

• The Coast Guard continued its search operations for the 10 fishermen who went missing after their boat capsized in the Arabian Sea due to the cyclone, while they were on their way to Lakshadweep, from Kochi. The fishermen, who hailed from Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts, had ventured out on April 29.

• The cyclone has also impacted the Covid-19 vaccination drive, with Gujarat suspending it for two days — today and tomorrow — while in Mumbai, there will be no vaccination today.

Source: Times of India Newsletter

[vigsom]

Brings back tense memories of Cyclone Vardah - 2016.None of us are any match for nature's fury, but we can do our bit to protect ourselves from some damage. Many of us faced the wrath of Cyclone Vardah in Dec-2016, and all I could do was to keep ourselves at home, keep the car in a safe place, shielding it from wind fury, likely falling trees, and flying and falling objects.

The attached video, that I shot from behind the glass pane on a stairway, should give you an idea of the wind velocity. Note how loud the wind sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEBHZAu9TM

Several hundred trees were lost inside the IIT Madras campus, that I visited a day after the cyclone. Several thousand trees in Chennai were gone. I saw the police, civic workers and the TANGEDCO officials work tirelessly to being the city back to some shape. We got power after four days, but there were the usual experiences of some wanting loads of cash to restore power.

Aftermath of Vardah


At IIT Madras on 13-Dec-2016

[locusjag]

Sea water has entered arable land in places in Kerala now, as it has in recent cyclones. Sea water surging into urban areas of Mangalore has also been seen in a cyclone within the past 5 years; I vividly remember the picture of a speared shark in the flood waters in a Mangalorean street in the news.

As such, I recall the muddied nature of sea waters on the Western seaboard of India. Off Kerala's and Southern Karnataka's coasts on any given day, you won't see the same blue waters that you see off of the Bay of Bengal's beaches.

It looks like the coastline is being nibbled away by the Arabian sea bit by bit a day at a time - and - chunk by chunk a cyclone at a time. Why isn't anything being done to control sea erosion along these states' coastlines? I'm talking about the "rip-rap" rocks placed on beaches in Pondicherry and Mumbai to prevent erosion. These rocks will also help control storm surge (i.e., sea entry into land during cyclones) and tsunamis.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Sea water has entered arable land in places in Kerala now, as it has in recent cyclones. Sea water surging into urban areas

My place too - we live right on the beach. Started flooding, then crazy tide led to sea water entering the lane. Pictures taken yesterday. Click here to see how we are creating 4 elevated spots to protect our cars from flood damage:






A cyclone & flooding in mid-May . Who would've thought???

[RM Motorsports]

Yesterday was absolute destruction. Bombay really got battered. Sometimes I really wonder how people must be living in places like Philippines or Caribbean where they have risk of deadlier hurricanes & cyclones throughout the year.

[Mortis]

3 fallen trees and 5 broken trees in our building and atleast 15 fallen trees in our lane. The winds were really strong. One tree smashed the full back end of a Rapid and caused some damage to a Corolla. Another tree narrowly missed a couple with a small kid. A frond from the same tree luckily fell in such a way that it only smashed one corner piece of my Dzire's cowl panel and the top of the coconut tree caused repairable dents on a 3 series bonnet, quarter panel, ORVM and a small dent on the edge of the roof and cracked the windshield.
Probably the worst storm to hit Mumbai in the last couple of decades barring the heavy rain of 26/7

[Thad E Ginathom]

It seems that there has been some rescue work offshore by the Indian navy. Search for those missing is ongoing.

I just can't imagine the bravery of those going out on such a mission, or the skill of being able to pick people from the sea in those conditions.

[am1m]

First time I've experienced a cyclone. Bangalore is very safe and moderate weather-wise, but here near the coast where I've been since November, the storm hit pretty hard. No power for 3 days, no phone signal, no connectivity. More than the continuous rain, the wind was scary, intense. Used to wake up in the middle of the night and at that time, in the darkness, the mind plays tricks. The continuous roar of the sea was also in the background for 4 days. Began to imagine that the water was coming on to the road, but nothing like that actually happened.

Finally power was restored yesterday afternoon and connectivity, phone and internet last night. Bit overcast still, but the sun's poking through, so good to see. Can't imagine living in a place that doesn't have a lot of sunlight, I'd go mad!

Looking at the pics of other places along the coast in the state and the neighboring states, think we got off pretty lightly. Also very impressive how quickly the electricity department restored power once the wind and rain stopped. Can't have been easy, poles and trees all over the place. Kudos to them!

[Emvi]

Just a few days prior to Taukte cyclone, heavy winds caused destruction to our plantation. I have attached few random pictures. This has become a rather common pre-monsoon phenomenon in our part of the world. The losses are generally immense and immeasurable. We are left to endure such occurrences almost every year, no respite whatsoever

[lordtottuu]

Hope the affected areas pull through safely.

Cyclones have always made me feel quite aware of my mortality and just how fragile everything is. Having seen Vardah in 2016 and Nivar last year, all I can say is that my respect for nature has gotten deeper. The hurricanes simply ripped apart most of the trees, poles, darn, most things that weren't concrete or anchored steel. I shudder to think what happens when an ever stronger cyclone hits. All the photos below are from just the winds -- if you start looking at the damage that the storm surges create, it's another story altogether!

To quote one of my favorite authors (talking about humanity's relationship with climate):

Originally Posted by Michael Crichton

The nasty little apes that call themselves human beings can do nothing except run and hide.

Attaching a few photos from the devastation Chennai faced.

My neighborhood got quite wrecked:




An apartment complex nearby:


The Aseana hotel had its entire porte-cochère area ripped apart. Still hasn't recovered from the damage:

[sparky@home]

I got this as a whatsapp forward, a first hand account of the sinking of the Barge P305 in the cyclone, by one of its seaman, an experience which is going to stay with him, maybe a lifetime. Thought I would share it.

It was pitch dark, the lights on my lifejacket went out… At that point, I thought I was going to die…’

Varghese Sam Eralil was among the 261 people on board Barge P-305, that went adrift due to Cyclone Tautkae, before sinking in the Arabian Sea on May 17. The 27-year-old recounts a first-hand account of the incident.

Written by Varghese Sam Eralil |

Updated: May 22, 2021 9:03:50 am

Varghese Sam Eralil was on board Barge P305 when Cyclone Tauktae hit.
May 16.
It was a normal night. We had dinner and wanted to go out to the deck, but it was too windy. Despite the warnings regarding Cyclone Tauktae, everyone onboard barge P305 was sure they would ride out the rough weather, considering the vessel’s size and its eight strong anchors. The weather reports suggested waves could rise up to 9 metres, which later became 12, and then 14. We could tell the wind was picking up. At some point, the barge started shaking, things fell off shelves, and snapping sounds came from the deck. We felt the winds were cyclonic. But, ignoring all this, we decided to get some sleep and went inside our cabins.
Two or three hours later, we woke up to loud instructions, asking us to wear lifejackets and “be prepared”. Even then, we thought this was just a precaution. Carrying our phones, wallets and passports, wearing coveralls and ditching our heavy safety shoes, we went to the office. The news was terrible: six of our eight anchors had snapped, which meant the vessel was pretty unstable.
Our biggest fear was it swaying a little too much and hitting a rig platform around 200 metres away. A platform has a lot of gas and oil lines. Colliding with those meant instant explosion, consuming our vessel too. Then, our last two anchors also snapped. As the barge now swayed uncontrollably, we kept sending SOS, to the Navy, our base, over the radio, phone, WhatsApp. Within seconds, the vessel had made contact with the platform. Luckily, we hit a spot where there were no pipes, but the impact was so hard, it left a hole in the base of the barge. Water started coming in. As people at the bottom deck called out for help, we were still not sure exactly what was happening. Nobody had the time to tell us, and we still thought it would turn out okay, we were ready to deal with whatever happens. Then, all of us were asked to reach the deck and deploy the life rafts — 12 on each side. But as we started inflating them, we realised almost all were damaged.
There was just one functioning life raft. Around 10 people immediately got in. However, even that raft was punctured when it hit the barnacles at the base of the vessel, and the men were thrown into the sea. It all happened in two-three minutes. Those who took that raft haven’t been found still.
Deploying another life raft was out of the question, the sea was too rough. We decided to wait for instructions from a Navy ship, stationed two or three miles from us. As the rain intensified and visibility got lower, they told us to wait. Pulling the ship close to the barge with the waves so high risked a collision. But by then, the barge started sinking. It was when it was halfway sunk that reality hit us: we had to abandon ship. Leaving our luggage behind, we started jumping into the sea one by one. The barge now was on its back. When the turn came for me and my friends to jump, we were almost 50-60 feet in the air. We looked down at the water and hesitated. I think I was the last to jump. I was scared. Maybe that’s what saved me …

#Watch: Indian Naval ships and aircraft are presently undertaking search and rescue operations of the missing crew members of accommodation barge P-305, which sank on May 17. #CycloneTauktae pic.twitter.com/D1BVgSri82 — The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) May 19, 2021

Mod : I could not find any thread on this matter, however if same already available, kindly delete this post.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

a first hand account of the sinking of the Barge P305 in the cyclone, by one of its seaman

Thank you. Cyclones pass on within days, and soon the news media has left behind everything that happened. There was enough coverage of these barges for me to know that extremely bad stuff had happened out there, and that there must have been some extreme bravery and skill in the rescue of those who could be rescued, and the sad recovery of many who could not.

My first thought was what were they even doing there? The potential paths of cyclones are known for days, and such weather is dangerous to the biggest of ships.

Thoughts, sympathy and condolences to the family and friends of those who were lost.

Comment from our seafaring members would be interesting. What happens now? Will there be an enquiry?

I could not find any thread on this matter, however if same already available, kindly delete this post.

If covered in another thread, kindly post the link here please.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My first thought was what were they even doing there? The potential paths of cyclones are known for days, and such weather is dangerous to the biggest of ships.

As a landlubber I can certainly say I completely underestimated the kind of weather we saw along the coast for those 3-4 days. For days before the event, the news told us that it was coming, it was going to be bad. While I've mostly lived in Bangalore, I've also seen several monsoons along that particular stretch of the coast. So I guess in the back of my mind, I thought 'how bad can it be'. But it got scary for a couple of nights I can tell you. Can't imagine being anywhere near the sea, much less in deep waters during something like that! And my god, rescuing someone during that, immense bravery!

Obviously experienced seafarers have seen it all and can take judgement calls, but perhaps they too didn't expect it to be that bad. There was a sentence in the article where they expressed confidence in the 8 anchors of the ship and the ship's size. I'm just speculating though.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Although, technically, cyclonic is a description of wind behaviour, not strength, cyclone is equivalent to hurricane where that word is used, so the expected wind strengths at minimum would have been known, and I would be amazed if any professional seaman used the words not that bad of a cyclone! Unless he had already been the unluckiest seaman in the world!

Can't imagine being anywhere near the sea, much less in deep waters during something like that!

Bad enough in much less. Although actually deep water is better than shallow.

Doubt that they were fools, of course, and yes, they must have had confidence in the anchors. Or, although technically god on the ship, the captain was not given any choice by its owners.