Cyclone Jawad: Bengal Evacuates Thousands In Coastal Areas, NDRF On Alert In Andhra & Odisha | Latest Updates

The cyclonic storm “Jawad” is likely to weaken further and continue to move north-northeastwards along the coast of Odisha towards the coast of West Bengal.

Representative Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Cyclonic storm “Jawad”, which was expected to make landfall on Saturday noon, is likely to weaken into a deep depression before making landfall near Puri in Odisha on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department informed.

“Cyclonic Storm ‘JAWAD’ about 210km eastsoutheast of Visakhapatnam at 1130 hrs IST of 04th December 2021. To weaken gradually during next 06 hours, and reach near Puri around 5th December noon as a Deep Depression,” IMD tweeted.

In an earlier statement, it was informed that the Cyclonic storm, subsequently, is likely to weaken further and continue to move north-northeastwards along the coast of Odisha towards the coast of West Bengal.

Here are top updates on the situation in coastal regions ahead of Cyclone Jawad’s landfall:

• The entire coastal region of Odisha has been experiencing rainfall since Friday night. Paradip recorded the maximum downpour at 68 mm followed by Bhubaneswar (10.4) mm in the last 12 hours, as per the met office. IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra informed that collected cloud mass over north Andhra Pradesh and coastal Odisha districts led to the rain since last evening. The Met office had forecast very heavy rainfall in north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha by Friday evening. The intensity of rainfall is likely to increase, it said. 
  
  
• A red colour warning has been issued for Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha. The red colour warning has also been issued for Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts for Saturday.
  
  
• IMD Bhubaneshwar Director HR Biswas said that the maximum wind speed is expected to be 75 km/hr. Only heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected and there are no storm warnings in any region. “Traffic may be affected due to waterlogging. Evacuations have been done only in the low-lying and vulnerable areas along the coast,” he added, as quoted by ANI.
  
  
• District officials were asked to evacuate people living in vulnerable houses and low-lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, and Niali area of Cuttack district from Saturday. Nearly 22,700 fishing boats have already returned from the sea and the Chilika lake, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena had said.
  
  
• Shrikesh B Lathkar, Collector and District Magistrate of Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam stated that continuous rains were witnessed across the district with wind speeds of 50 kmph at a few locations. 79 cyclone shelters have been set up since Friday. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and fire teams were on alert and deployed across the district.
  
  
• The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over West Bengal on Saturday and Sunday. Heavy rainfall can be witnessed at isolated places over Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura on Sunday and Monday.
  
  
• The West Bengal government has evacuated thousands of people in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts and urged tourists in popular sea resorts to stay away from beaches, news agency PTI reported. As per the weather office, several places in the metropolis, North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Howrah and Hooghly districts received light rainfall since morning.
  
  
• An official said that the administration in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts evacuated around 11,000 people from the coastal areas to safer locations, while boats with fishermen returned to Kakdwip, Digha, Shankarpur, and other coastal belts. A total of 19 teams of the NDRF have been deployed in the state in the wake of the cyclone.
  
  
• As per the forecast, heavy to very heavy rainfall can be witnessed at one or two places in Kolkata, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, North and South 24 Parganas, Jhargram, Hooghly and Howrah districts. Heavy rain is also likely to occur on Monday in the districts of North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad.

NDRF Director General (DG) Atul Karwal had previously informed that 46 teams have been deployed or pre-positioned in the vulnerable states, 18 teams have been kept in reserve.

Out of the 46 teams, 19 are based in West Bengal, 17 in Odisha, 19 in Andhra Pradesh, apart from seven in Tamil Nadu, and two in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Sea conditions will remain unsafe for shipping and fishermen in the central and north Bay of Bengal till Sunday.

(With Agency Inputs)