"Nilofar has weakened and is expected to hit Gujarat as Marginal Cyclonic Storm only. Earlier it was predicted that it will make landfall on forenoon of November 1. But now it seems that it will hit Kutch coast on the night of October 31 or early morning November 1," said the state relief commissioner D N Pandey here today.
According to Met department, Nilofar, categorised as 'Very Severe Cyclonic Storm' over west-central Arabian Sea, has moved slightly northwards. It is now 860 Km west-southwest of Naliya in Kutch.
Pandey said the storm would bring heavy rains. "It is expected that rains would start in the morning on October 31 with winds upto 45 Kmph. Kutch would get heavy to very heavy rains, between 2 to 10 inches. Rains are also expected in many other parts of state," he said at a press conference.
"Apart from Kutch, including Naliya, the storm will impact other coastal towns including Veraval, Somnath, Porbandar, Okha and Dwarka near Jamnagar. We have asked all the districts collectors to take their own call to evacuate those living near the coastal areas," said Pandey.
Three additional teams of National Disaster Relief Force have been deployed in the state. "Apart from nine teams already deployed at various places, we have deployed three more teams today for Kutch, Una and Dwarka. We are also taking help of ISRO for establishing emergency communication system," said Pandey.