In photos: Deadly Cyclone Tauktae leaves trail of destruction across India
18 May 2021
Tropical Cyclone Tauktae killed at least 16 people in India after making landfall in Gujarat Monday, packing 100mph winds, and sweeping across Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, per Reuters.
The big picture: The storm unleashed heavy rains and winds as authorities continued to grapple with surging infection rates and deaths from COVID-19. Over 200,000 people were evacuated from Gujarat, and ports, airports and vaccination centers shut in the state and Mumbai, Reuters reports. Tauktae weakened from a Category 3 storm into a "severe cyclonic storm" Tuesday morning local time.
Winds of Cyclone Tauktae from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at 1:03 UTC, May 17, 2021. Winds as high as 81 knots (93 mph) were measured; JTWC and IMD rated Tauktae as stronger. See my post: https://t.co/QXhN03M4mNpic.twitter.com/m2CY5E0xS8
— Jeff Masters (@DrJeffMasters) May 17, 2021
Waves lash over onto a shoreline in Mumbai on May 17, as Cyclone Tauktae, bears down on India. Heavy rains and powerful winds destroyed homes, downed trees and caused power outages in several states, the BBC reports. Photo: Sujit Jaiswal/AFP via Getty Images
A truck loaded with oxygen cylinders gets stuck as trees fall due to the approaching cyclone near Mahuva, in Gujarat state, western India. Per meteorologist Jeff Masters, it's the fifth-strongest cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea. Photo: Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images
Trucks are stranded on a flooded highway near Diu, western India, on May 18. Photo: Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images
Rescue personnel evacuate a resident through a flooded street in a coastal area of Kochi, southwest India, after heavy rains from the cyclone on May 14. Photo: Arunchandra Bose/AFP via Getty Images
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.