Cyclone Tauktae
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Cyclone Tauktae intensified into a "very severe cyclonic storm" causing rough seas along the western coast of India, the nation's Meteorological Department (IMD) reported on Monday. The cyclone has so far killed at least 16 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, authorities said.

The financial hub of Mumbai was lashed with heavy rain and strong winds, forcing authorities to suspend operations at the city's airport and to close some main roads due to flooding. Mumbai's urban rail system, one of the world's busiest, was also affected as tracks flooded. Witnesses saw trees uprooted and stranded cars and buses in the city.

Cyclone Tauktae brought gusts of up to 210 kmph that would put it on par with a Category 3 hurricane, rating it one level below the IMD's super cyclone category. The storm also forced Mumbai and Gujarat to temporarily suspend their COVID-19 vaccination drives.