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Odisha evacuates over 5 lakh people as cyclone Yaas set to make landfall
Doppler radar at Paradip has spotted the eye of Cyclone Yaas. The radius of the 'Eye' is said to be 35 kilometres.
With the very severe cyclonic storm Yaas set to make landfall near Dhamra of Bhadrak district around May 26 morning, the Odisha government said it has evacuated over 5 lakh people to cyclone shelters and has finalised arrangements for shifting over another 5 lakh people to safe places in four coastal districts.
"The severe cyclonic storm Yaas is moving at a speed of around 15 kmph and now lies about 160 km off Paradip coast. During landfall, it would have a wind speed of 155 kmph-165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph. The impact will be severe for six hours before and after the landfall at Chandbali. Big trees and electric poles may get uprooted. Chandbali is likely to witness the maximum damage due to the cyclone," said IMD DG Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.
In a major change in its prediction, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) has recently changed the landfall place of Cyclone Yaas. In its latest bulletin, the JTWC has observed that Cyclone Yaas will make landfall at the mouth of Budhabalanga river estuary in Balasore district.
Severe cyclonic storm Yaas lays over East-central and adjoining West-central Bay of Bengal as it moved northwestwards with a speed of about 17 kmph during the past six hours. The system lays about 160 km south-southeast of Paradip and 250 km south-southeast of Balasore.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the storm is likely to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours and continue to move north-northwestwards before landing very close to Chandbali-Dhamra port by the early morning of May 26.
Doppler radar at Paradip has spotted the eye of Cyclone Yaas. The radius of the 'Eye' is said to be 35 kilometres. Areas falling in the route of the eye to suffer massive destruction.
Odisha's special relief commissioner Pradip Jena said over 5 lakh people have been shifted to cyclone shelters in Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur Jajpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khordha, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Puri and Angul so far. The maximum number of people, 1.43 lakh have been shifted in Balasore district, followed by 1.05 lakh from Kendrapara and 94000 from Bhadrak, the SRC data revealed.
“We have put four coastal districts- Kendrapara, Jagatisnghpur, Bhadrak and Balasore - on high-risk zone and started preparation accordingly after the meteorological department predicted that the cyclone will hit the coast anywhere near Bhitarkanika, Dhamra and Chandbali. As many as 6,900 cyclone centres are ready for use where 7.50 lakh people can be accommodated,” special relief commissioner PK Jena said.
Jena said 710 diesel gensets and 813 tankers have been dispatched while more than 10,000 employees of the energy department have been deployed in the districts likely to be affected for electricity restoration works. Another 2,000 workers will reach their locations by tonight. More than 300 health teams have remained prepared to handle any emergency. In view of the weather warning by IMD, flight operations at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar will be suspended from 11 pm today to 5 am on May 27.
As many as 4,000 personnel of NDRF, ODRAF, fire services and state police have been deployed at strategic places. Around 52 NDRF, 50 ODRAF, 206 fire services, 86 teams of the forest department have been pressed into service.
As the landfall site is not very far from the Paradip port, the Paradip Port Trust authorities suspended its operations from 2 pm on Tuesday. At least 12 vessels were sent to the deep sea to avoid the path of the storm while all the trucks, dumpers and large cargo handling equipment in the port area have been taken to a safe zone, said PPT chairman Vinit Kumar.
"The authorities have been in coordination with the Odisha government and the Jagatsinghpur district administration to take all the precautionary measures," Paradip Port Trust Chairman Vinit Kumar told reporters.
The Integrated Test Range of the DRDO has taken various measures to protect its facilities at Chandipur and Abdul Kalam Island at Dhamra. The Integrated Test Range (ITR) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has three missile launch pads at Chandipur and one launch complex at Abdul Kalam Island, besides two separate mission control rooms and blockhouses. Though the island will be impacted by the cyclone, the control room and the blockhouse have been designed to withstand wind speeds up to 400 km.
Milan Kumar Pal, spokesperson of the ITR facility, said his organisation is prepared for the very severe cyclonic storm, and are implementing the standard operating procedures prepared by DRDO.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has earmarked 112 teams for deployment in five states and the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, its highest-ever number of teams for deployment in a disaster. Out of these, NDRF has earmarked 52 teams for Odisha followed by 45 teams for West Bengal.
