Sharjah 24 – AFP: Cyclone Biparjoy tore down power poles and uprooted trees Friday after pummelling the Indian coastline, though the storm was weaker than feared and there were no immediate reports of deaths.
More than 180,000 people in the Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan's neighbouring Sindh province fled the path of Biparjoy -- which means "disaster" in Bengali -- before it made landfall on Thursday evening.
The storm packed sustained winds of up to 125 kilometres (78 miles) per hour as it struck -- but weakened overnight, with Indian forecasters expecting it to calm into a moderate low-pressure system by late Friday.
There had been no deaths reported in Gujarat but 23 people had been injured in the storm, relief director C.C. Patel told AFP.
Driving rain and howling winds continued to lash the state's coast on Friday despite the worst of the danger receding.
State relief commissioner Alok Pandey told reporters that nearly 500 homes had been partially damaged after Biparjoy made landfall.
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 Gujarat, more than 100,000 people had been moved from the storm's path before it struck, the state government said, as well as 82,000 others in Pakistan.
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