Odisha on Sunday announced that schools and educational institutions in the 11 coastal and adjoining districts will remain closed on Monday (September 27) as cyclone Gulab is all set to hit the coast in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday night, bringing a massive amount of rainfall to at least 7 districts in its wake, officials said.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who is in New Delhi, chaired a virtual meeting and asked the chief secretary and collectors to be prepared in view of Cyclone Gulab. The state government has asked all the districts in the path of the cyclone for evacuation.
Cyclonic storm Gulab, which lay centred at over northwest & adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal 160 km east of Kalingapatnam and 125 km southeast of Gopalpur by 1.30 pm, would landfall late Sunday evening, India Meteorological Department scientist Umashankar Das said.
The southern Odisha district of Gajapati that is likely to be most affected has already started experiencing the initial damages. Officials said landslide at Gumma block of the district led to disruption of road communication between Namangada to Ajayagada. More than 5,000 people have been evacuated from the hillside and low lying areas of Gajapati and Koraput districts fearing a repeat of the October 2018 incident when cyclone Titli brought a copious amount of rainfall in two days causing massive landslides which resulted in 40 deaths.
IMD officials said Paralakhemundi, Gumma, Mohana, R. Udayagiri and Nuagada in Gajapati district and Rayagada and Kasinagar in Rayagada district are likely to be affected the most as they come in the direct path cyclone Gulab.
{{/usCountry}}IMD officials said Paralakhemundi, Gumma, Mohana, R. Udayagiri and Nuagada in Gajapati district and Rayagada and Kasinagar in Rayagada district are likely to be affected the most as they come in the direct path cyclone Gulab.
{{/usCountry}}“Heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy falls at one or two places very likely to occur over the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri,” IMD scientist Das said and issued Red Warning for the districts.
Officials also issued an orange warning for Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, and Kalahandi districts with heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places. Yellow warnings have been issued for Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Cuttack, Boudh, Sonepur, Bolangir and Nuapada districts.
Special Relief commissioner Pradeep Jena said 103 teams of fires services, 42 units of ODRAF and 24 units of NDRF have been deployed ahead of the cyclone hitting the coast. The East Coast Railway has so far cancelled 34 trains, diverted 16 trains and rescheduled 8 trains keeping the cyclone Gulab in kind.