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.
[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2FNXZ65X9VMuuT6Dv3kwVo3vQV2Rs%3D%2F2021%2F05%2F18%2F1621306569991.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.axios.com&s=580&h=73ac34cb45b3a916f48ffc57da309c5033db82a9d9072ac0e7683e44d6253de5&size=980x&c=240888055 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252FNXZ65X9VMuuT6Dv3kwVo3vQV2Rs%253D%252F2021%252F05%252F18%252F1621306569991.jpg%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fimages.axios.com%26s%3D580%26h%3D73ac34cb45b3a916f48ffc57da309c5033db82a9d9072ac0e7683e44d6253de5%26size%3D980x%26c%3D240888055%22%7D" expand=1]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