'Never seen such a cyclone': People hit by Biparjoy hopeful they can rebuild lives

As authorities in Pakistan and India evacuated more than 175,000 people with Cyclone Biparjoy nearing the coasts of both countries, those taking shelter are praying for minimal damage as the cyclone is set to make landfall Thursday evening.

On Thursday afternoon, India's weather department said the landfall would take place in the evening, and its Pakistani counterpart also said the cyclone is moving toward the country’s southern regions, including the port city of Karachi, and is likely to cause strong winds and heavy rain from today.

In India's western state of Gujarat, people seeking the safety of shelter say the cyclone is intense this time.

Jani Juma, 60, a fisherman from the village of Sheriajbara in Gujarat's Junagadh district – surrounded by the Arabian Sea – told Anadolu over the phone that for the last few days he along with his family had been taken to a school-turned-shelter in the district, and they now waiting for the cyclone impact to end.

"I’ve never seen such a cyclone so far. It’s too intense," he told Anadolu over the phone.

Last week, when Juma left his small shack, where the family lives, he hadn't expected that it would be damaged.

He said on Wednesday he went to see it and found it damaged due to the strong winds due to the cyclone. *"As soon as we go back, now we have to rebuild it again," said Juma.

Hassan Ghafoor, another fisherman from the same district, told Anadolu that everyone is now waiting for the cyclone’s landfall on Thursday evening.

"We are waiting to get this over soon. For the last few days, we haven't gone to the sea for work either," said Ghafoor.

He said some 15 years ago he saw a strong cyclone, but it did not damage his house. This time, he said, the winds are so strong that there are damaging the fishermen’s temporary structures.

Ghafoor said now the fisherman are looking to the government to get their houses rebuilt.

"We will now wait for the government to help us so that we can rebuild our houses," he said.

Narendra Singh Bundela, a senior officer at India's National Disaster Response Force, said on Thursday afternoon that more than 94,000 people have been monitored and the situation over the cyclone is being monitored.

In the local Bengali tongue, “biparjoy” means “disaster” or “calamity.” The name was suggested by Bangladesh as the naming of cyclones is done by countries.

Earlier the Gujarat government had said more than 74,000 people from eight coastal districts have been taken to safer places.

The government said the state’s Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a meeting on Thursday with senior officials to get details of the work done by the authorities in view of Cyclone Biparjoy in Gujarat.

Read more: Pakistan on tenterhooks as cyclone makes landfall today

“Full vigilance is being maintained by the state government to protect the citizens from loss of life and property as a result of the storm,” the government said.

It said that audio messages and WhatsApp video messages are also being sent on precautionary measures during the cyclone.

Fear, anxiety grip displaced people in Pakistan

In Pakistan, officials said so far 81,925 people have been evacuated from the Badin, Thatta, Sujawal and Malir districts and taken to shelters, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority Sindh said in a statement.

Khattan, 52, said she can barely sleep due to worrying that she has to restart her life after the damage the cyclone might wreak.

Now staying in a private school in the small town of Baaghan in southeastern Pakistan, she is one of the tens of thousands relocated by the government to safer places ahead of the cyclone's landfall.

Her town of Keti Bandar, home to 15,000 people, projected to be right in the storm’s path, has been completely evacuated by the government.

Khattan, who gave her first name only, recalled the grim 1999 cyclone that hit her hometown, killing hundreds and causing extensive damage to infrastructure and boats, the major source of livelihood of the local fishing communities.

"It took us at least a year to recover from the damage caused by that cyclone. I just keep my fingers crossed that it won’t do the same this time, “she told Anadolu.

Her son Mohammad Achar, 25, said he was worried about his boat, which he left behind while leaving home.

Fishing is “our only source of livelihood,” he told Anadolu. “I don't know what I’ll do if I lose my boat.”

Many of the local fishermen, according to Khattan, moved to the country's commercial capital Karachi to find jobs after losing their boats to the 1999 cyclone, which reportedly killed over 6,000 people and affected more than 2 million.

‘New normal’

Over the past two decades, displacements have become the “new normal” for fishing communities as cyclones frequently hit the country's southeastern coastal belt.

Read: Karachi Port braces for stormy weather as threat of Biparjoy looms

However, none of them came so close to the shoreline after 1999, and the magnitude of the damage was also minor.

"Although we’re relocated every three or four years as a precautionary measure, we haven't seen such a strong storm since 1999," said Kamal Shah, head of Fishermen Folk Forum, a non-governmental organisation that works for the welfare of fishermen in the southern Sindh province.

Speaking to Anadolu, he said: "The safety of boats is our prime concern because we’re dependent on them for our livelihood."

Building a standard 8.23-metre (27-foot) boat, a standard model for most local fishermen, costs 350,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,240).

Farooq Soomro, the top administration official in Thatta district, which Biperjoy is set to hit, told Anadolu that the displaced people cannot go back to their homes until next week.

"We have made arrangements for these people for over a week after the landfall," Soomro said, adding that allowing the relocated people to return depends on the extent of the infrastructure damage.

The government, he said, will send them back with tents and rations, expecting that there might not be much when they get back.

Army and Navy personnel have already been deployed to coastal areas to assist the local administration in evacuation and relief activities.

Relief and medical camps have also been established in Badin, Thatta, Sujawal and Malir to provide assistance to displaced people.

"As all arrangements possible to secure lives on the impact frontline have been made, as we pray that as it makes landfall before or by noon, people stay safe. On both sides of the border," tweeted Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's climate change minister.

Authorities also advised fishermen not to venture in open sea until June 27, when the system is expected to be gone.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department said that under the existing upper-level steering winds, Biparjoy is most likely to track further northward until Thursday morning, then recurve northeastward and cross between Keti Bandar (Southeast Sindh) and India’s Gujarat coast on June 15 afternoon/evening as a very severe cyclonic storm packing winds of 100-120 kilometres (62 to 74 miles) per hour gusting to 140 km/hour.

"PMD’s cyclone warning centre, Karachi is continuously monitoring the system and will issue updates accordingly," it said, adding that heavy rain and thunderstorms could continue until June 16.