Electricity has been interrupted in over 1,000 villages, he added.
Not a single life was lost due to Cyclone Biparjoy after landfall in Gujarat yesterday, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief told NDTV today, clarifying that two people had died before the landfall. 23 people have been injured, he said.
Kachchh has been the worst effected by power outages, with over 40 per cent of the district without power, Atul Karwal, the Director General of the National Disaster Response Force, said. Around 800 trees were uprooted, about 500 houses were damaged (mostly kacchha houses and hutments), and power supply has been disrupted in over 1,000 villages, he added.
Mobile phone towers did not suffer much damage during the cyclone's landfall, and the overall situation will become normal in the next 24 hours, he told NDTV.
The cyclone has lost some power, and the focus now is on restoration of life as quickly as possible, Mr Karwal said at a media briefing, adding that they have teams in areas where there is a possibility of heavy rain. "We have teams in Mumbai, Karnataka, and Rajasthan," he said.
"The cyclone is headed inwards towards south Rajasthan, and the NDRF team has moved there in case there is any flooding," Atul Karwal added.
The 'Very Severe' cyclonic storm Biparjoy that hit Gujarat on Thursday night has now weakened to a 'Cyclonic Storm' and is presently centred 30 kilometres west-northwest of Bhuj, India Meteorological Department Director Dr Mrityunjay Mohapatra said on Friday.
"Biparjoy is moving in an East Northeast direction at a wind speed of 80–90 kilometres per hour (kmph) as of 8:30 am," he said. "By evening, it will weaken to a 'Deep Depression' with wind speed of 50-60 kmph or even 70 kmph," he added.
Heavy rain coupled with strong winds by the storm brought down over 800 trees and electric poles at various places in Gujarat, snapping power supply to nearly 1,000 villages, according to state officials. A cattle-rearer and his son died while trying to save their goats stuck in Bhavnagar district, news agency PTI reported on Thursday.
After churning across the Arabian Sea for more than 10 days, Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening with wind speeds ranging between 125 kmph and 140 kmph, but started losing force several hours. At 2:30 am on Friday, it was packing 100 kilometres per hour winds with gusts up to 110 km/h.