A SEVERE cyclone is roaring in the Arabian Sea off southwestern India with winds of up to 140 kph, already causing heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least six people, officials said Sunday.

Cyclone Tauktae, the season’s first major storm, is expected to make landfall early today in Gujarat state, a statement by the India Meteorological Department said.

The massive storm will likely hamper India’s fight against a coronavirus surge that’s sweeping the country with devastating death tolls, as virus lockdown measures may slow relief work and damage from the storm could potentially destroy roads and cut vital supply lines.

In areas along the Arabian Sea coast, four people were killed and 73 villages were badly damaged Sunday, according to the southwestern Karnataka state’s disaster management authority. A woman was killed when a coconut tree fell on her and a man riding a scooter was hit by an uprooted electric pole in the western state of Goa lashed by stormy winds and heavy rains, said Pramod Sawant, the state’s top elected official.

Nearly 2,500 government rescuer workers have been deployed in six states on Cyclone Tauktae’s path — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa — equipped with wireless radios, satellite phones, cutters and tools needed for post-cyclone operations.(SD-Agencies)