Bengal, Odisha brace for barrelling cyclone

AMPHAN Officials say cyclone to reduce in intensity but still cause heavy damage

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.