Severe cyclone 'Dana' begins landfall on Odisha coast: IMD

Bhubaneswar: The landfall process of severe cyclonic storm 'Dana' began on Odisha coast on Thursday night and was expected to continue till Friday morning, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The coastal districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore and nearby Jagatsinghpur district witnessed sudden increase in wind speed which reached 100 kmph to 110 kmph and extremely heavy rain. A revenue department official said reports of trees getting uprooted were also received at the office of the Special Relief Commissioner here.

However, there was no report of any major damage or casualty so far even as the landfall process started more than an hour ago, the official said.

The storm moved north-northwest at a speed of 15 kmph over the past six hours before making landfall between Bhitarkanika in the Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak, with wind speeds of around 110 kmph, a senior IMD official said.

“The landfall process has commenced and the forward sector of the wall cloud region is entering into the land. The process will continue till Friday morning," Umashankar Das, a senior scientist at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, told PTI.

When the centre of the system reaches land, wind speeds are expected to reach 120 kmph, he said, adding that the landfall process will last for about four to five hours. "The system is under continuous surveillance of the Doppler weather radar at Paradip," he said.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had enquired about the Odisha government’s preparedness to tackle the situation arising out of the cyclone.

5.8 lakh people evacuated

The chief minister said that the state has already evacuated around 5.84 lakh people from the high risk zones located in the low-lying areas of coastal districts. Authorities in Odisha and West Bengal evacuated lakhs of people, shut schools, cancelled more than 400 trains and suspended flight operations as they braced on Thursday for severe cyclonic storm Dana, which is expected to make landfall in Odisha past midnight at a speed of 120kmph.

Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the government has deployed 385 rescue teams comprising 19 NDRF teams, ODRAF (51), Fire Service (220) and Forest staff (95). This apart, as many as 150 platoons (1 platoon comprise 30 personnel) of Odisha Police personnel have been pressed into service for rescue, road clearing and other activities at the ground level.

As many as 2,131 villages spread over 11 different districts would be affected in the cyclone.

As part of precautionary measures, the East Coast Railways cancelled 203 trains passing or originating through Odisha even as flight services remained suspended at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here for 16 hours from 5 pm of Thursday. Bus services have also been halted till the cyclone passes the state.

The CM has rushed nine ministers including two deputy chief ministers to different districts and senior IAS officers to the ground for supervision of the rescue and relief operation.

"It is very likely to move north-northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during midnight of 24th to morning of 25th October, 2024 as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph. The system is under continuous surveillance of the Doppler Weather Radar at Paradip," the IMD said.

IMD DG Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the system is likely to cause extremely heavy rainfall, tidal surge up to 2 meters and some districts to experience high velocity winds of 120 kmph during landfall of the system.

Reports of heavy downpour, squally wind and uprooting of trees have been received from some areas of Balasore, Bhadrak, Bhitarkania and Puri, leading to blocked roads, officials said, adding that highest rainfall of 62 mm was recorded at Paradip, while Rajnagar in Kendrapara district received 24 mm over the last four hours.

West Bengal affected

In neighbouring West Bengal, heavy rains and gusty winds battered the southern districts as the state administration evacuated over 2.5 lakh people to safety in anticipation of the impending severe cyclonic storm. In addition, Eastern Railway cancelled 68 suburban trains in the Howrah division for Friday morning, while all EMU local trains from Sealdah station were suspended from Thursday evening through Friday morning.

Kolkata Port authorities also halted ship movements until Friday evening as a precautionary measure. Operations at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport were suspended from 6 pm on Thursday until 9 am on Friday due to expected high winds and heavy rain.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said she would be staying the entire Thursday night at the state secretariat and personally monitor the situation. The chief secretary and home secretary would also be monitoring the situation from their respective residences and rejoin her on Friday morning. Banerjee has urged the people not to spread rumors and create panic in this connection. "I seek your cooperation. Be alert. If the police or the administration ask you to evacuate a place, please pay heed to their advice. Do not venture into the waters. Fishing is prohibited now," she said.

Wind speed of 120 kmph on Friday morning

Meanwhile, IMD DG Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the region where the landfall commenced would witness high velocity wind at the speed of about 120 kmph till Friday morning. He said the landfall also accelerated the tidal surge, which could go up to two metres above the astronomical height, in Kendrapada, Balasore and Bhadrak districts. The landfall process of cyclone usually takes five to six hours, he said. Mohapatra said that the system will continue to remain as the severe cyclonic storm will gradually weaken on Friday and move deeper in the state, triggering heavy rains in most places.

Gale with wind speed 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph is already prevailing along and off north Odisha and is likely to continue till Friday morning and decrease gradually thereafter. Gale of wind speed reaching 60-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph is likely along and off south Odisha till Friday morning and decrease gradually thereafter, the IMD said.

The weather agency has also said that light-to-moderate rainfall in most places and heavy-to-very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall (above 21 cm) at isolated places in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal, Khurda and Puri districts are expected till October 25.

(Inputs from PTI)