A woman watches the waves on the coast of the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, India on June 3. Rafiq Maqbool / AP
The typhoon is expected to land near Alibag in the Indian state of Maharashtra – a region that has been staggered due to the effects of coronavirus – on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.
Maharashtra has been hit harder by Covid-19 than any other state in India. A total of 72,300 cases and 2,465 virus-related deaths have been reported there, and the storm poses new challenges for authorities seeking to enforce social distance rules.
The department said that Typhoon Nisarga will cross northern Maharashtra, including the city of Mumbai – home to more than 18 million people – and the state of the coast of Gujarat in western India.
The eye of the storm is about 65 km (40 miles) in diameter as observed via radar, and wind speeds reach 90 to 100 kph (56 to 62 mph), blowing up to 110 kph (68 mph), Wednesday morning local time, according to the department.
More than 60,000 people from the coastal district of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and more than 50,000 people living in low-lying areas along the southern Gujarat coast have been evacuated,according to the authorities.
The Indian National Disaster Response Force has deployed 20 teams in Maharashtra, 16 teams in Gujarat and two teams in the United Daman and Diu Territories.
More than 80 people were killed and thousands left homeless after Typhoon Amphan struck coastal cities in India and Bangladesh last month. Amphan is the most strong typhoon once recorded in the Bay of Bengal, but weakened before landing.
