Nearly 150,000 people were moved from their homes in the Indian state of Gujarat to safety on Monday and authorities closed ports and a main airport as the most intense cyclone in more than two decades roared up India's west coast.
Cyclone Tauktae has killed at least 12 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, authorities said.
It is set to make landfall in Gujarat late on Monday.
"This will be the most severe cyclone to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage," state revenue secretary Pankaj Kumar told Reuters.
The colossal swirling system visible from space exacerbated India's dire problems dealing with a huge coronavirus surge that is killing at least 4,000 people every day and pushing hospitals to breaking point.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) categorised the storm, which formed in the Arabian Sea, as an "extremely severe" storm, upgrading it from the "very severe" category.
The financial hub of Mumbai was lashed with heavy rain and strong winds as Cyclone Tauktae headed north. Strong winds forced authorities to suspend operations at Mumbai's airport, and close some main roads.
On Sunday authorities in the city shifted 580 Covid patients "to safer locations" from three field hospitals.
In Gujarat, where on Sunday and overnight more than 100,000 people from 17 districts were evacuated, all COVID-19 patients in hospitals within five kilometres of the coast were also moved.
Authorities there were scrambling to ensure there would be no power cuts in the nearly 400 designated Covid hospitals and 41 oxygen plants in 12 coastal districts where the cyclone was expected to hit hardest.
What's reported to be India's most intense cyclone in more than two decades is roaring up the country's west coast. Source: AFP
"To ensure that Covid hospitals are not faced with power outages, 1,383 power back-ups have been installed," senior local official Pankaj Kumar said.
"Thirty-five 'green corridors' have also been made for supply of oxygen to Covid hospitals," he said.
Virus safety protocols such as wearing masks, social distancing and the use of sanitisers would be observed in the shelters for evacuees, officials added.
The state also suspended vaccinations for two days. Mumbai did the same for one day.
Thousands of disaster response personnel had been deployed, while units from the coast guard, navy, army and air force had been placed on standby.
Maharashtra evacuated around 12,500 people from coastal areas.
What is India's reportedly most most intense cyclone in more than two decades is roaring up the west coast. Source: Getty
Four people died on Saturday as rain and winds battered Karnataka state while two died in Goa as winds hit power supplies and uprooted trees.
S M Bandekar, dean of the Goa Medical College Hospital (GMCH), said that one Covid ward suffered minor flooding because rain came in open windows.
"But there was no need to shift the patients," he said, adding that the state's hospitals were not affected by the power cuts because they had back-up generators.
Two others were reported dead and 23 fishermen were feared missing in Kerala, local media said.
The vast nation of 1.3 billion people reported on Monday 4,100 deaths and 280,000 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total close to 25 million - a doubling since 1 April.
"This cyclone is a terrible double blow for millions of people in India whose families have been struck down by record Covid infections and deaths," said Udaya Regmi from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The organisation said it was helping authorities to evacuate people most at risk in coastal areas, providing first aid, masks "and encouraging other critical COVID-19 prevention measures".
Last May, more than 110 people died after "super cyclone" Amphan ravaged eastern India and Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal.
The Arabian Sea previously experienced fewer severe cyclones than the Bay of Bengal but rising water temperatures because of global warming was changing that, Roxy Mathew Koll from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology told AFP.
"(The) Arabian Sea is one of the fastest-warming basins across the global oceans," told AFP.
