Firefighters work to clear an uprooted tree from a street after Cyclone Tauktae hit the west coast of India on Tuesday. AFP

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE expressed its solidarity with the friendly Republic of India over the victims of the severe cyclone Tauktae, which struck several regions in the country, and left scores of casualties.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its sincere condolences to the Government of India and to the families of the victims of this painful ordeal while wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

At least 33 people died and more than 100 were missing on Tuesday after a monster cyclone slammed India, compounding the country's woes as it posted a new record number of coronavirus deaths in 24 hours.

The swirling system dubbed cyclone Tauktae is the latest in what experts say is a growing number of increasingly severe storms in the Arabian Sea as climate change warms its waters.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power after the storm hit the Gujarat coast in western India on Monday evening, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

Winds up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour smashed seafront windows and knocked over power lines and thousands of trees, blocking roads leading to affected areas, officials said.