Bengal, Odisha brace for barrelling cyclone

AMPHAN Officials say it will reduce in intensity but may still cause heavy damage

NEW DELHI: Cyclone Amphan is poised to slam into West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday afternoon, packing winds gusting to a speed of 185 kmph, bringing with it torrential rainfall, threatening to inundate low-lying areas of human habitation and cause extensive damage to crops and public property at a time when the nation has its hands full with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Amphan is expected to make landfall between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya Island in Bangladesh, close to the Sundarbans and around Sagar Island, as a very severe cyclonic storm, bordering on an extremely severe cyclonic storm.

On Tuesday afternoon, the storm was packing wind speeds of 200 to 210 kmph, gusting to 240 kmph. Its intensity had reduced marginally, bordering a super cyclone and an extremely severe cyclonic storm. According to IMD’S glossary, an extremely severe cyclonic storm carries wind speed of between 167 kmph and 221 kmph; a storm is classified as a super cyclone when wind speeds exceed 222 kmph.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) director general SN Pradhan said people from low-lying areas were being evacuated. “The biggest challenge is that we are facing two disasters together—covid-19 and cyclone. We are also creating awareness about Covid-19 while creating awareness about Amphan and evacuating people,” Pradhan said.

He cited one example what it means to confront two such challenges simultaneously. If a cyclone shelter has a capacity of 1,000, because of social distancing norms and the need to maintain adequate sanitation to curb the spread of Covid-19, only 400 to 500 people can be sheltered there, said Pradhan. Amphan had been billed as the first super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal since a 1999 storm devastated Odisha, killing around 9,000 people.

“After the 1999 super cyclone, this is the most intense .... Though its wind speed will reduce to 155 to 165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph, we can expect extensive damage and devastation in South and North 24 Parganas and East Medinipur,” IMD director general M Mohapatra said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

The storm surge is expected to be 4 to 6 metres above the astronomical tide in parts of West Bengal,

flooding low lying areas in the three districts when it makes landfall. Wind speeds in Kolkata, Hooghly and Howrah are likely to range between 110 kmph and 120 kmph, gusting to 130 kmph.

Gale-force winds of 75 to 85 kmph, gusting to 95 kmph, are likely to lash the north Odisha coast, including Jagatsignghpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapara and other areas.

Meteorologists and climate scientists said that on Monday evening the intensity of Amphan was 145 knots, or 270 kmph.