Cyclone Yaas HIGHLIGHTS: 4 Dead As Storm Ravages Bengal, Odisha; Over 20 Lakh Evacuated, Jharkhand On Alert
Cyclonic Yaas HIGHLIGHTS: Packing winds of up to 130-145 kmph, Cyclone Yaas whiplashed the country's eastern coasts on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain, damaging houses and farmlands, and leaving at least four persons dead - three in Odisha and one in Bengal. The storm, which had weakened during the afternoon, had left the coastal states on edge, with the Bengal government claiming that at least one crore people have been affected by the calamity thus far, as it hollered on its destructive path towards Jharkhand.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik reviews post-cyclone situation in the state, announces 7-day relief for all families of 128 marooned villages of the cyclone affected districts. Restoration of roads and power supply in affected districts to be done in next 24 hours: CMO
Cyclone 'Yaas', packing winds of up to 130-145 kmph, whiplashed the country's eastern coasts on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain, damaging houses and farmlands, and leaving at least four persons dead - three in Odisha and one in Bengal.
The storm, which had weakened during the afternoon, had left the coastal states on edge, with the Bengal government claiming that at least one crore people have been affected by the calamity thus far, as it hollered on its destructive path towards Jharkhand.
Several roads adjoining the sea beaches in Bengal's Digha lay inundated, with some people seen wading through chest-deep water, as the tourist town and its adjoining places bore the brunt of Cyclone 'Yaas', which made its landfall in neighbouring Odisha on Wednesday morning.
Many areas in Purba Medinipur, of which Digha is a part, and South 24 Parganas were whiplashed by heavy rain, which accompanied the cyclonic storm.
Cyclone Yaas has completed the landfall process. it started around 9 am & around 1 pm information received from Collector Balasore as well as Bhadrak that wind has subsided in all the coastal zones: Pradeep K Jena, Odisha Special Relief Commissioner.
There's not been much damage to electrical infrastructure in Jajpur, Kendrapara & Jagatsinghpur districts. Restoration process started & electricity dept also started safety checks of feeders. Adequate teams are available on field for road clearance & restoration.
List of guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA):
* Switch off electrical mains, gas supply
* Keep doors and windows shut
* Keep your mobile phones charged to ensure connectivity, use SMS
* Prepare an emergency kit with essential items for safety and survival
* Keep your documents and valuables in waterproof containers
* Listen to radio or transistor to keep yourself updated
* Rely on official warning
* Drink boiled or chlorinated water
Jharkhand, which was put on high alert, continued evacuating low-lying areas on Wednesday amid the forecast that cyclone Yaas would be hitting the state by midnight after pounding neighbouring Odisha and West Bengal.
Operations are being executed on war-footing in the vulnerable areas in East and West Singhbhum, besides some other districts, in view of the very severe cyclonic storm Yaas, Disaster Management Secretary Amitabh Kaushal told PTI.
At least one crore people were affected and three lakh houses damaged in West Bengal due to the rough weather conditions arising out of cyclone 'Yaas', Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.
The chief minister further said that as many as 15,04,506 people have been evacuated from the vulnerable areas in the state and moved to safer places.
As per latest update, Cyclone Yaas has now weakened into a 'severe cyclonic storm' with 100-110 km per hour winds and 120 km per hour gusts. At around 1.30 pm, the storm was 15 km from Balasore and centred over north coastal Odisha.
IMD has predicted that the storm will weaken further - into a 'cyclonic storm' - over the next six hours, moving north-northwest towards Jharkhand.
Landfall of severe cyclonic storm created havoc in parts of Bengal and Odisha. As per the latest inputs, 1 person lost life in West Bengal's Ramnagar, East Midnapore
Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and state police and civil defence volunteers working round-the-clock to move people to safety. The Army has deployed 17 columns to assist the state administration, of which one rescued 32 stranded civilians at Digha.
Rising river water levels due to the landfall of cyclone 'Yaas' have inundated large parts of West Bengal's coastal districts of Purba Medinipur and South 24 Parganas on Wednesday, as sea waves were seen touching coconut tree-tops and cars floating in floodwaters.
The seaside towns of Digha and Mandarmoni in Purba Medinipur and Fraserganj and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas were among the areas affected by a storm surge of more than 2 metres above the astronomical tide level.
The surging waters have breached embankments at several places in the two coastal districts, inundating many villages and small towns, officials said.
Svere cyclone Yass crossed north Odisha coast about 20 km south of Balasore from 10:30 am to 11:30 am today with wind speed of 130-140 kmph gusting to 155 kmph. It then moved northwestwards & lay centred at 11:30 am over north coastal Odisha about 15 km south-southwest of Balasore. It is likely to move north-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a severe cyclonic storm during next 3 hours and into cyclonic storm during subsequent 6 hours
IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra on Wednesday said, Jharkhand will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall today & tomorrow with extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places due to cyclone Yaas.
IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra on Wednesday said, Cyclone Yaas is crossing Odisha border, south of Balasore. It'll reach Jharkhand tomorrow morning. It caused heavy to extremely heavy rain in Odisha in past 24 hrs. North Odisha & coastal Odisha expected to receive heavy to extremely heavy rain today. West Bengal expected to receive isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall today.
Odisha Spl Relief Commissioner PK Jena informs about landfall process in Odisha: Landfall provess started around 9 o'clock. It is expected to continue for 3-4 hours. It's expected that by around 1 pm, tail end of cyclone will also be completely moving to landmass. It's making landfall between Dhamra & Balasore. It'll continue to move in Balasore dist till afternoon, after which it will enter Mayurbhanj dist. Wind speed is estimated to be around 120-140 km per hr. It is expected that this wind speed will continue in Balasore dist around 120-140 km per hour. In Mayurbhanj district, the wind speed is expected to be around 100-110 km per hour. After that, it will gradually slow down
Five airports closed in eastern India due to cyclone
- Bhubaneshwar airport closed from tonight till 27th morning
- Jharsugudaa Airport to remain shut from midnight of 26th May to 27th Morning
- Durgapur & Rourkela Airports to be closed on 26th May due to cyclone
- Kolkata Airport has announced similar closures and stopped flight operations
Flight operations at the Kolkatas NSCBI airport will be suspended from 8.30 am to 7.45 pm. Bhubaneshwars Biju Patnaik International airport will also remain shut till 5 am on Thursday.
Meteorological Department, Gopalpur has announced a Yellow alert in Gopalpur of Ganjam district in wake of cyclone Yaas
Odisha: Relief material for cyclone affected people being provided by Indian Navy. INS Chilka at Khurda has made all necessary arrangements, to coordinate the operations in close liasion with State Govt agencies with the support of HQ Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam.
Odisha: Paradeep experiences strong winds & heavy rainfall. Cyclone Yaas lay centred over northwest Bay of Bengal, about 40 km east of Dhamra (Odisha), 90 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal) & 90 km south-southeast of Balasore (Odisha)
We are expecting 'very severe cyclonic storm' Cyclone Yass to make landfall by noon today with wind speed of 130-140 kmph gusting 155 kmph: Umashankar Das, senior scientist at IMD Bhubaneswar
IMD at about 5:30 am on Wednesday monrning reported that the Cyclone Yaas lay centred over northwest Bay of Bengal near latitude 20.7°N and longitude 87.45°E, about 60 km east of Dhamra (Odisha), 90 km east-northeast of Paradip, 100 km south of Digha (West Bengal) and 105 km south-southeast of Balasore (Odisha).
In the wake of cyclone Yaas, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said nearly 11 lakh people were evacuated from coastal districts in the state and sent to safe shelters. She also urged people not to panic and advised against stepping out on Wednesday unless absolutely necessary. During a press briefing, the Chief Minister said more than 40 houses were partially damaged and two people killed in Pandua due to lightning.
Background
Cyclonic Yaas HIGHLIGHTS, May 26: Cyclonic Yaas made landfall in Odisha on Wednesday morning and crossed the northern Odisha coast about 20 km south of Balasore between 10:30-11:30 am with an estimated wind speed of 130-140 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph. It then moved northwestwards & lay centred at 11:30 am over north coastal Odisha about 15 km south-southwest of Balasore. It is likely to move north-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a severe cyclonic storm during next 3 hours and into cyclonic storm during subsequent 6 hours.
North Odisha & coastal Odisha expected to receive heavy to extremely heavy rain today. West Bengal expected to receive isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall today.
Following IMD warnings, neighboring Jharkhand, West Assam and Meghalaya has been alerted of heavy rains on Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, NDRF has about 115 teams deployed in 5 states and 1 UT including 52 in Odisha & 45 in West Bengal.
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