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Thousands evacuate as Pakistan and India brace for Cyclone Biparjoy

Heavy seas are pounding the shores of north-western India and southern Pakistan as a severe cyclone approaches.

Emergency response teams have been deployed and more than a 150 thousand people taken to storm shelters across the Asian subcontinent ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Biparjoy.

It's forecast to be one of the strongest cyclones this century bringing torrential rain, fierce winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour and a 10 metre tidal surge to coastal parts of India and Pakistan.

Sindh province in southern Pakistan and parts of western India are likely to be worst hit. The government of Pakistan has evacuated around 65,000 people from the coastal areas of the province.

Newsday heard from Asif Sherazi, the Country Director for Pakistan at the aid organisation Islamic Relief who said a lot of people affected will have been trying to recover from a recent disaster, some as yet without any humanitarian assistance.

鈥淧eople will be quite vulnerable... we all know that last year we had mega floods in the south... and we are praying it should not be like the floods of last year. Pakistan is continuously a victim of climate change-related disasters."

(Image: People flee the coastal areas following warnings of Cyclone Biparjoy in Keti Bandar, Sindh Province, Pakistan; Credit: EPA)

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