Cyclone Biparjoy: Sindh govt orders evacuation; Seaview cordoned off

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday ordered the authorities concerned to evacuate residential areas and other human settlements located near the coastal areas of province as cyclone Biparjoy, now classified as an “extremely severe cyclonic storm”, inching closer to Pakistan, ARY News reported.

The provincial government has issued a Red Alert, directing the authorities concerned to evacuate residential areas and other human settlements located near the coastal areas of province till 6pm tomorrow (Tuesday).

The government directed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDM)A to submit report of evacuation ‘every six hours’. “The authority should also release number of evacuated people and details of relief camps,” it added.

Giving details of the evacuation plan, the PDMA – in a statement – said that residents located near the slums on the coastal belt will be evacuated first.

The PDMA noted that the wind speed can reach 120 km/hour in case of a possible storm. “Meanwhile, waves have reached heights of 8 to 12 feet near Kati Bander and surrounding ocean,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Karachi police have also cordoned off Seaview to prevent people from heading out into the open sea as the city administration have imposed Section 144 amid the cyclone threat.

According to the notification, bathing, and hunting in the sea will be banned, and fishermen in the sea are also at risk, the ban will be imposed from June 11 until further order.

Met Office’s advisory

The precautions came as Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued a fresh advisory which said the cyclone Biparjoy had “moved further northward during the last 12 hours” and lay at a distance of about 600km south of Karachi, 580km south of Thatta and 710km southeast of Ormara.

In the press release, the PMD said the system is likely to move further northward till 14 June (Morning) while a westerly wave is also likely to enter in upper parts of the country on 14th June (Wednesday).

The Met office warned that under the influence of this weather system, “widespread wind-dust/thunderstorm rain with some very heavy/extremely heavy falls accompanied with squally winds of 80-100 Km/hour gusting 120km/hour likely in Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparker, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts during 13-17 June”.

Meanwhile, Dust/thunderstorm-rain with few heavy falls and accompanied with squally winds of 60-80 Km/hour likely in Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allayar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, from 14 -16 June.

The PMD advised fishermen to not venture out into the open sea “till the system is over by June 17 as the Arabian Sea conditions may get very rough/high accompanied with high tides along the coast”.

‘Cloudburst expected in Karachi’

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah stressed the need to prepare for dealing with the cyclone.

“The direction of the cyclone is changing and while it is not directed towards Karachi, there will be strong winds and rainfall. The prediction is that there will be 60mm of rain in the span of half an hour,” the chief minister added.

“It will be a cloudburst of the same intensity that we faced in 2020 and 2022,” CM Murad added. Moreover, he said, winds were expected to blow at 70 kilometres per hour.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) predicted ‘heavy rain’ in Karachi on June 14 and 15 due to the landfall of cyclone Biparjoy.

The temperature in the city is likely to reach 40 degrees Celsius today due to the cyclone. Additionally, the cessation of sea breezes will make it feel like 41 to 42 degrees. Strong winds are expected to blow in the city from June 13 to June 15.

Alongside the strong winds, there is a possibility of heavy showers in various parts of Sindh, including Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Sajawal, Mirpur Khas.