Cyclone Amphan to make landfall in Bengal on May 20
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Severe cyclonic storm Amphan has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal, and is likely to cross West Bengal on May 20. Authorities are faced with a unique situation where evacuation has to be quick but social distancing norms also have to be followed.
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Severe cyclonic storm Amphan that has been hovering over the Bay of Bengal intensified to what is classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm” on Sunday, as per authorities monitoring the situation.
Storm was about 960km south of Paradip in Odisha and 1,110km southwest of Digha in West Bengal Sunday evening. It is expected to intensify into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” on Monday. Over subsequent 12 hours, it will move northwards slowly before recurving north-northeastwards and cross West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts on May 20 afternoon.
Authorities and local people are staring at a unique situation where evacuation has to be quick and effective in the face of a deadly storm but at the same time social distancing has to be practised and first-line responders protected. Amphan will be a test case of how to handle natural disasters during a pandemic. As the monsoon is set to advance, more exigencies are expected to arise out of urban flooding, landslides and more cyclones—this would mean the need for more rescue shelters and sanitary facilities in them.
When Amphan develops into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm”, the wind speed is expected to be 170-180kmph gusting to touch even 200kmph. The last “extremely severe cyclonic storm” was Fani over the Bay of Bengal which reached its peak intensity on May 3 and mostly impacted the state of Odisha.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has shared an advisory with all cyclone-prone states on disaster preparedness during Covid-19. “We have underlined that firstline responders like police, state disaster response force, all volunteers engaged in relief work will have to be provided with PPE kits along with N95 masks. Cycloneprone states like Odisha have a lot of multi-purpose cyclone shelters. But now we can use them to only one-third capacity because social distancing needs to be maintained. So, states have been asked to identify new shelters and buildings,” said Pavan Kumar Singh, joint advisor, NDMA.
“The MHA holds an annual relief commissioners’ meeting scheduled for May 20 this year via video when more details on monsoon-related disaster preparedness will be discussed,” he added.
“We will announce the location of landfall and pinpoint where evacuation will be needed when we gain more confidence on the exact location, as because evacuation and relief measures will have to be taken with great precaution due to Covid-19. There will be more impact in West Bengal as it is expected to cross Sundarban,” said Sunita Devi, IMD scientist incharge of cyclones.
“Though it will intensify into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, it may make landfall as a very severe cyclonic storm. There is time to take decisions on where evacuation will be needed,” said M Mohapatra, director general of IMD (India Meteorological Department).