- Thursday, October 24, 2024
Roads in some areas of Balasore, Bhadrak, Bhitarkania and Puri were blocked, after trees were uprooted due to strong winds
By: shajil kumar
THE COASTAL belt of Odisha experienced heavy rain and squally winds on Thursday morning with the sea condition remaining rough, as severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana’ approached closer to the state’s coast, the IMD said.
The cyclone is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres (74 miles) per hour, it said.
The weather system over the Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 12 kmph during past the six hours, and lay centred about 260 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 290 km south-southeast of Dhamra (Odisha) and 350 km south of Sagar Island (West Bengal) at 5.30 am.
“It is very likely to move northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamra during midnight of 24th to morning of 25th October as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph,” it said in the latest bulletin.
The highest rainfall of 62 mm was recorded at Paradip, while Rajnagar in Kendrapara district received 24 mm rain, in the last four hours, the Met Department said.
Moderate to intense rain and thunderstorms with wind speeds of 30-40 kmph are likely to lash some parts of Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Puri districts during the day, it said.
Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, Manorama Mohanty said: “The severe cyclonic storm is likely to re-curve slightly towards west and west-southwards after landfall, triggering rain in southern Odisha around October 26. However, the landfall and wind speed predictions remain unchanged.”
Meanwhile, roads in some areas of Balasore, Bhadrak, Bhitarkania and Puri were blocked, after trees were uprooted due to strong winds, officials said.
Storm shelters
At least 1.1 million people on the eastern coast of are fleeing to storm shelters inland, hours before a powerful cyclone is expected to hammer the low-lying region, Odisha and Bengal ministers said Thursday.
Major airports will shut overnight, including key travel hub Kolkata, where heavy rain was already lashing the sprawling megacity.
The storm is also expected to impact neighbouring low-lying Bangladesh, where the leader of the interim government Muhammad Yunus said that “extensive preparations” are being made.
Crashing waves are expected to inundate swathes of coastal areas, with water predicted to surge up to two metres (6.5 feet) above usual tide levels.
Odisha state health minister Mukesh Mahaling told AFP that “nearly a million people from the coastal areas are being evacuated to cyclone centres”.
In neighbouring West Bengal state, government minister Bankim Chandra Hazra said: “More than 100,000 people have so far been shifted to safer places.”
Puri beach closed
Businesses in Puri, a popular beach resort, have been ordered to close, and tourists told to leave.
“All efforts are being made to face the cyclone and save lives,” said Puri district magistrate Siddharth Swain.
Kolkata airport director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said flights will be suspended overnight Thursday due to “predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall”.
The airport at Bhubaneshwar will do the same, while scores of trains have been cancelled and ferries from Kolkata ordered to stay in port.
Bangladesh disaster minister Faruk-e-Azam told AFP that authorities were on “high alert” but evacuation orders had not been issued as it was predicted the worst of the storm would hit India.
“We are closely monitoring the cyclone’s progress,” he said.
Cyclone menace
Cyclones – the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific – are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.
Warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapour, which provides additional energy for storms, strengthening winds.
A warming atmosphere also allows them to hold more water, boosting heavy rainfall.
However, better forecasting and more effective evacuation planning have dramatically reduced death tolls.
In May, Cyclone Remal killed at least 48 people in India, and at least 17 people in Bangladesh, according to government figures. (Agencies)
