Pakistan’s coastal areas are bracing for a second climate-induced emergency in a year, with thousands of people being evacuated before Cyclone Biparjoy makes landfall on Thursday.
The government has shifted about 65,000 people to safer places, Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s minister of climate change, said at a press conference. The evacuations have taken place from an area that has “barely recovered from the last climate-induced disaster,” she said, adding that some 75 relief camps have been set up to shelter people.
Pakistan and India are preparing to minimize the impact of Biparjoy. The cyclone follows devastating rains in Pakistan last year that flooded about a third of the nation, killing 1,700 people, displacing 8 million and leaving about $30 billion in losses and damages.
The cyclone is set to hit Pakistan at a time when the country is already facing severe economic hardship. The South Asian nation, which has to make about $22 billion of external debt payments in fiscal year 2024, is racing to secure loans from the International Monetary Fund to avoid a default. Its economic growth slowed sharply to 0.29% for the year ending June, one of the lowest rates in its history.
Pakistan, which is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, has grounded small aircraft in preparation for Biparjoy, while fertilizer maker Agritech Ltd. has shut its plant after gas supply was suspended. Some key oil and container ports have already been closed in India. The oil ports of Vadinar and Sikka, as well as Kandla, Okha, Bedi and Navlakhi have suspended operations, according to the Gujarat Maritime Board.
--With assistance from Andrew Janes.
