Cyclone Yaas Landfall Near Odisha's coastline

Cyclone Yaas Like to Landfall Near to Chandbali and DhamraPort, Odisha

Cyclone Yaas is likely to hit Odisha's coastline between Balasore and Bhadrak district somewhere near the Chandabali-Dhamra port by the early morning of Wednesday, the 26th of May 2021.  IMD Director-General Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that ‘Yaas’ is very likely to move north-northwestwards, intensify further into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm during the next 12 hours. It would continue to move north-northwestwards, intensify further and reach Northwest Bay of Bengal near north Odisha and West Bengal.

As per the present model forecast, the cyclone will cause extensive damage in Dhamra and Chandbali areas of the coastal districts while crossing the coast by May 26 noon, said Mohapatra. The entire area spanning Paradip in Odisha and Sagar Islands in West Bengal will come under the direct impact of the cyclone.

Tidal waves of height 2-4 meters above astronomical tide are likely to inundate low lying areas of Balasore, Bhadrak, and about 2 meters above astronomical tide are likely to inundate low lying areas of Kendrapara & Jagatsinghpur Districts around the time of landfall. Red warning with heavy to very heavy rainfall has been predicted for districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, and Jagatsinghpur. Similarly, an Orange warning with heavy to very heavy rainfall forecast has been issued for districts of Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khordha & Puri till the morning of May 26.

The red warning has been sounded for the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Dhenkanal where there is the likelihood of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy fall at some other places tomorrow. Likewise, heavy rainfall very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Anugul, Deogarh, Khurdha, Puri, and Sundergarh on May 26, the IMD has said in its bulletin.

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the state’s home minister to reach Balasore today and remain there to monitor the situation. The work of transporting people to safe places in the coastal districts is going on fast and by noon 50,000 people have gone to safe camps. Officials said that this process will be completed long before the 'Yaas' reach the coast. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also appealed to party workers to provide assistance. 

60 formations of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed in vulnerable areas for post-cyclone rescue & recovery. 55 platoons of Odisha State Armed Police will assist them. ODRAF teams have been provided with high-end equipment: Odisha ADG (L&O) YK Jethwa.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that she held a meeting with all the district magistrates of the state and reviewed the preparations. He said that he would stay at Nabanna (CM office) at night to keep a watch onYaas. The 20 districts of West Bengal can get affected by Yaas. These districts are Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, East Medinipur, Howrah, Hooghly, Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, West and East Bardhaman, West Medinipur, Murshidabad, Jhargram, and Purulia. In view of this, the NDRF has so far sent 8,09,830 people to a safe place.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has earmarked its highest-ever number of teams for deployment in Odisha and West Bengal as part of its preparations for the impending cyclone Yaas, a senior officer said on Tuesday. 112 teams of NDRF have been deployed in five states and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands which are expected to be affected by the cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal. Out of these, the highest number of 52 teams are designated for Odisha followed by 45 teams for West Bengal.