The super cyclone Amphan (pronounced as UM-PUN) is inching closer to land and has moved north-northeastwards at 15 km per hours in the last six hours.
According to the latest bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, the super cyclone is currently located at about 480 km south of Paradip in Odisha, 630 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal and 750 km south-southwest of Khepuopara in Bangladesh.
“It is very likely to move north-northeastwards across the northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) Haitya (Bangladesh) close Sundarbans during the Afternoon/Evening of May 20, 2020, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph,” stated the bulletin.
However, during the landfall, Amphan is likely to weaken a bit and turn into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
Rainfall is expected to increase gradually and peak on Wednesday with heavy to very heavy rainfall in the districts of East and West Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas of Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata of Gangetic West Bengal.
A storm surge of about four to five meters above astronomical level is expected in North and South 24 Parganas and three to four meters in the low lying areas of East Midnapore district during landfall.
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