Cyclone Yaas to make landfall near Odisha's Dhamra Port on Wednesday

The 'very severe cyclonic storm' Yaas is expected to make landfall near Dhamra Port in Odisha’s Bhadrak district early morning on Wednesday. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) it will likely cross the North Odisha coast between Paradwip and Sagar Island in West Bengal around Wednesday noon.

Speaking to reporters, Umashankar Das, a scientist at the Regional Meteorological Centre said that the landfall of the cyclone is expected to take place between Dhamra and Chandbali area of Bhadrak district.

IMD Director Mrutunjay Mahapatra said that Chandbali is likely to suffer maximum damage from the cyclone. He also said by midnight windspeed is expected to reach about 80 kmph in the districts of Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara, which will uproot trees and electric poles.

The Odisha Government has swung into action, focusing on evacuating vulnerable people living in low-lying areas Talasari, Bhogarai, and Baleswar. The Chief Minister's Office stated in a tweet that the state government is focusing on shifting all the vulnerable people to multipurpose cyclone shelters to avoid loss of lives.

Read | Bengal, Odisha evacuate lakhs to safety as cyclone Yaas nears coast

“#Odisha Govt has identified pregnant & expecting mothers in districts which are going to be affected by #CycloneYaas. Pregnant women are being shifted to Maa Gruha or Community Health Centres while high-risk pregnant women are being shifted to nearest hospitals. #OdishaFightsYaas,” the CMO, Odisha tweeted.

Officials said that the state administration has already shifted 50,000 people to cyclone shelters in coastal districts.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has instructed Odisha’s Minister of State for Home, Dibyashankar Mishra, to reach Balasore and stay there to monitor the situation.

According to the IMD, Cyclone Yaas' wind speed will reach 155 to 165 kmph, gusting up to 185 kmph. Such speeds will be seen over northwest Bay of Bengal and along and off North Odisha and adjoining West Bengal coasts. The coastal towns that may experience such wind speeds include Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Bhadrak from early morning on May 26.

Read | Cyclone Yaas: Vessels moved, oil and gas installations in survival mode

As for West Bengal, the districts of Howrah, Hooghly and North 24 Paraganas would experience squally wind speed of about 40 kmph to 50 kmph gusting up to 60 kmph on Tuesday evening. The districts of Bankura, Purulia, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and Bardhaman will experience wind speeds of 60kmph to 80 kmph, gusting up to 90 kmph.

The cyclone will cause heavy rainfall in several districts of Odisha and West Bengal.

Speaking to reporters, Sanjib Bandopadhyay, the Deputy Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata said that the “district of East Medinipur will experience wind speed of 90 kmph to 120 kmph, gusting up to 145 kmph on Wednesday.

The cyclone is currently located at about 200 kms southwest of Paradip and 280 kms south of Sagar Island.

“We have opened 4000 relief camps across the State and 9 lakh people have been evacuated,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She also said that a tornado took place at Chinsurah in Hooghly district and damaged 40 houses. The Army has deployed 17 integrated relief columns in Bengal.