IMD Ahmedabad Director Jayant Sarkar told reporters that the cyclone could now hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday afternoon, instead of early morning, as forecast earlier. After touching Gujarat coast, the cyclone is likely to move parallel to Saurashtra and Kutch, bringing rain to Amreli, Gir Somnath, Diu, Junagarh, Porbandar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Dwarka and Kutch. The eastern state successfully evacuated above 15 lakh people ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Fani near Puri in May. The NDRF has pre-positioned 52 teams equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipments etc.”Private weather forecaster Skymet, however, predicted that the cyclone Vayu might not make a landfall over Gujarat. “The cyclone will not directly hit Gujarat but likely brush past the coast of Porbandar on Wednesday morning.

Source: Hindustan Times June 12, 2019 18:32 UTC