Cyclone 'Amphan' to make landfall at wind speed up to 165 kmph

The super cyclone Amphan has now weakened into an extremely severe cyclone, barreling towards the West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts. It is expected to move north-northeastward direction and make landfall between Digha and Hatiya, close to the Sundarbans, on Wednesday, by afternoon or evening.

According to the latest bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department, Kolkata is going to slam into the coastal areas at a wind speed of 155 to 165 kms per hour gusting up to 185 kms per hour.

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Currently, the cyclone is located at 123 kms east-southeast of Paradip in Odisha, 177 kms south of Digha in West Bengal and 328 kms southwest Khepupara in Bangladesh.

After landfall, the cyclone will move in the north-northeast direction and pass close to Kolkata, stated the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata.

It is to be noted that for the last six hours, the storm has been moving towards the north-northeastward side, at a speed of 22 kms per hour.

According to officials at the Regional Meteorological Centre, in Kolkata, the 'Amphan' cyclone is going to surpass earlier cyclones such as Aila, Fani and Bulbul in terms of wind speed.

So far, nearly 3 lakh people have been evacuated in West Bengal mainly from the districts of North and South 24 Paraganas, East and West Medinipur.