By Francis Mascarenhas, Sumit Khanna and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam
MANDVI, India/KARACHI (Reuters) - Strong winds, heavy rain and high tides lashed India's Gujarat coast late on Thursday as cyclone Biparjoy made landfall after authorities there and in neighbouring Pakistan had evacuated more than 180,000 people to safety.
Deserted coastal towns were battered in the dark in parts of Gujarat as power went out after electricity poles fell and some trees were uprooted by gusty winds, officials said.
Biparjoy, which means 'disaster' or 'calamity' in the Bengali language, was centred in the Arabian Sea 30 kilometres (19 miles) off Jakhau port in the western Indian state close to the border with Pakistan, weather officials said.
"Landfall process will continue till midnight after which the cyclone intensity will weaken and wind speed will reduce gradually," said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general at the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD said in its latest bulletin that part of the eye of the cyclone was over the land. Mohapatra said the cyclone was moving with a speed of 115 to 125 kph (71 to 78 mph), which will start reducing to 75 to 85 kmph over the next three to six hours.
Classified as a category one storm, the least severe on a scale of one to five, Biparjoy was expected to flatten temporary thatched homes in its way and damage standing crops, plantations and public infrastructure. The weather office has cautioned over disruptions to the railway network.
Tidal waves in the Arabian Sea could rise as high as 2 m to 3 m (7 to 10 ft), which could inundate low-lying coastal areas, the IMD has warned.
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from eight coastal districts in Gujarat and moved to shelters, the state government said.
Authorities said evacuations have been completed in Pakistan, where about 82,000 people were moved from high-risk coastal areas.
Makeshift relief quarters were set up in school auditoriums and other government buildings to shelter the displaced in both countries.
"The vulnerable population have already been shifted to safe places so damage to property and loss of life should be minimum," Narendra Bundela, the inspector general of India's National Disaster Response Force, told broadcaster NDTV.
TREES UPROOTED, POWER LINES DAMAGED
As the storm neared land, the windspeed rose around Jakhau, said Amit Arora, a revenue official in the region of Kutch, where more than 50,000 people have been evacuated.
Power supply was disrupted at many places in Kutch district in Gujarat because of strong winds, said Amit Arora, a top district official.
Indian television footage showed high waves crashing on the shores of many coastal areas of Gujarat, as winds bent tall trees and displaced some structures.
In the coastal town of Mandvi, a Reuters witness said strong winds had uprooted trees and caused waterlogging. Other districts in the state also reported fallen trees and moderate rain.
Ships and boats have been moved from some areas of Pakistan's coast with hospitals put on high alert for the cyclone.
Karachi, an economic hub of 20 million, faced no immediate threat, but emergency measures were being taken to protect against the expected winds and rain, said Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's climate change minister.
"There is no need to panic. Such storms are always unpredictable. But rest assured that we have all our arrangements in place," said Rehman.
Indian authorities suspended fishing until Friday, shut schools and closed beaches. Many offshore oil installations and major ports on the Gujarat coast have suspended operations.