E-Paper
Odisha braces for cyclone landfall
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Fani, which was to affect the northern coast of Tamil Nadu on April 30, had moved north-northwestwards and lay centered around 800 km southeast of the Gopalpur coast in Odisha and about 670 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
The Odisha government will start evacuating people from coastal regions from May 2 as extremely heavy rainfall is expected in parts of eastern India on May 3 and 4 after “extremely severe cyclonic storm” Fani reaches the Odisha coast on May 3 afternoon.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Fani, which was to affect the northern coast of Tamil Nadu on April 30, had moved north-northwestwards and lay centered around 800 km southeast of the Gopalpur coast in Odisha and about 670 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
The cyclone is likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. “It is likely to move northwestwards till May 1 evening and thereafter re-curve north-northeastwards and reach the Odisha coast by May 3 afternoon, with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph gusting to 200 kmph,” IMD said in its bulletin on Tuesday.
The ministry of home affairs, based on the decision of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), has ordered the release of advance financial assistance of Rs1,086 crore to the State Disaster Response Funds of four states that are likely to get affected — ₹200.25 crore for Andhra Pradesh, ₹340.875 crore for Odisha, ₹309.375 crore for Tamil Nadu and ₹235.50 crore for West Bengal.
“We are expecting extremely heavy rain on May 3 and 4 along the Odisha coast, parts of West Bengal, Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh, northeastern states like Assam and Meghalaya. There will be very heavy rainfall in Bangladesh also. The cyclonic storm has a speed of about 80 nautical miles per hour or 140 to 150 kms per hour,” said M Mohapatra, director general of meteorology at IMD.
According to the IMD bulletin, “phenomenal sea conditions are likely over west-central Bay of Bengal and over northwest Bay of Bengal. Rough to very rough sea conditions are very likely along and off north Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts.” Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea in these areas. The global precipitation measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over Cyclone Fani in the northern Indian Ocean on April 27 and 28, and measured rainfall. GPM, which is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, said “rain was falling at a rate of about 1.6 inches (40 mm) per hour. ” Special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said 20 units of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, 335 fire services units and 12 units of the National Disaster Response Force have been kept ready
