Cyclone Amphan: The states likely to be hit by its landfall
Cyclone Amphan will cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans on Wednesday afternoon.
Cyclone Amphan is all set to make the landfall on Wednesday afternoon. According to the bulletin by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday morning, the cyclone is moving north-northeastwards with a speed of 15 kmph.
It lay centred in Westcentral Bay of Bengal, about 480 kilometre south of Paradip in Odisha.
The cyclone will cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans on Wednesday afternoon with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.
Watch | Cyclone Amphan | Expected damage, government preparation: Latest updates
As the cyclone heads towards land, here is a list of states impacted by its movement:
Odisha: Rainfall has commenced over coastal Odisha since Tuesday morning, sadi the IMD bulletin. Its intensity is likely to increase gradually and become maximum between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, it further said. Also, the wind speed will gradually increase becoming gale wind speed reaching 75 to 85 kmph gusting to 95 kmph from Wedneday morning. Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Balasore, Cuttack, Mayurbhanj, Khordha and Puri districts will be affected by the cyclone’s movement, according to IMD.
West Bengal: Coastal districts of Gangetic West Bengal are likely to experience light to moderate rainfall at many places starting Tuesday. The intensity of the rainfall is likely to increase gradually and reach its peak on Wedneday afternoon. The districts to be affected in West Bengal are: East Medinipur, South & North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata and adjoining areas. Gale wind speed reaching 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph will prevail over the affected districts, the IMD forecast said.
Sikkim: According to the IMD, the districts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim will witness light to moderate rainfall on May 21 (Thursday).
Assam & Meghalaya: Light to moderate rainfall is expected at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places over the western districts of Assam and Meghalaya on May 21 (Thursday), according to IMD.
The IMD has warned that fishing activities should be banned in Odisha and West Bengal from May 19 to May 20 as the condition of the sea is phenomenal and is likely to continue for next 12 hours.