Millennium Post

‘AMPHAN’ TURNS INTO SUPER CYCLONE, TO CROSS WB, B’DESH COASTS ON MAY 20

Wind speed due to the Super cyclone over the Bay of Bengal may go up to 230-265 kmph

- OUR CORRESPOND­ENT

BHUBANESWA­R/ KOLKATA: Cyclone 'Amphan' intensifie­d into a super cyclonic storm on Monday and is likely to move across northeast Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts between Digha and the Hatia island on May 20, the IMD said.

'Amphan'(pronounced UM-PUN) had turned into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and gathered more strength over Bay of Bengal while moving slowly towards the coast. It has now intensifie­d further into a super cyclonic storm, the India Meteorolog­ical Department (IMD) said.

It lay centred around 780 km south of Paradip in Odisha, 930 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal and 1,050 km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh, said H R Biswas, director of the meteorolog­ical centre in Bhubaneswa­r.

It is likely to move northnorth­east wards and across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts between the sea resort of Digha (in West Bengal) and Hatia island (in Bangladesh) as very severe cyclonic storm, the department said.

The wind speed due to the Super cyclone over the Bay of Bengal may go up to 230 kmph and even 265 kmph, but 'Amphan' will gradually weaken on the sea itself before its landfall on May 20, Biswas said.

This has raised the likelihood of heavy rains and high velocity winds in coastal Odisha from Monday evening and the state government has started evacuating people from vulnerable areas.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea till May 21, Special Relief (SRC) P K Jena said.

Super cyclone 'Amphan' comes a year after Cyclone Fani barrelled across vast areas of Odisha on May 3, 2019, claiming at least 64 lives and destroying vital infrastruc­ture.

Under the impact of 'Amphan', heavy rainfall is likely in some places in coastal districts like Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsingh­pur and Kendrapara,

Biswas said.

Jena said collectors of 12 coastal districts have been asked to evacuate people living in low-lying areas, thatched and mud houses or 'kutcha' structures.

People living within five kilometres of the coastline and in vulnerable areas will also be evacuated and the entire process completed by Tuesday. Arrangemen­ts have already been made to shift over 11 lakh people to cyclone shelters, he said.

Evacuation will be undertaken by strictly adhering to

social distancing guidelines, he added.

The IMD said high-velocity winds might cause extensive damage to mud houses and partial damage to 'pucca' structures. The calamity may also lead to bending or uprooting of power and communicat­ion poles, minor disruption for the Railways by affecting overhead power lines and signal systems, and also cause widespread damage to standing crops, plantation­s and orchards, it said.

Biswas said five districts Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara,

Balasore and Jagatsingh­pur - are likely to be affected by heavy rains and high speed winds.

Districts like Cuttack, Puri and Khurda are also expected to be affected, he said.

The SRC said there will be total suspension of fishing activity till May 20.

Officials said a total 27 disaster response teams 10 units of NDRF and 17 of ODRAF - have been deployed in the districts likely to hit. Apart from local fire services, additional 30 teams have been mobilised.

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