Cyclone Dana, classified as a severe cyclonic storm made a landfall after midnight on Thursday, leading to heavy rain and strong winds that blew with high speed.
As per reports the cyclone made a landfall in between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra coasts after midnight.
The strong winds caused trees to be uprooted and heavy rainfall in coastal areas can be seen.
The cyclonic storm which made landfall after midnight caused heavy rainfall in coastal areas of Odisha and West Bengal. Gusty winds blew with a speed of 110 km/h.
The hourly bulletin released by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said that the landfall process continues and the centre lies close to the Odisha coast near Habalikhati nature camp, Bhitarkanika.
The IMD in its hourly bulletin also said that the cyclonic storm Dana over north-west Bay of Bengal moved north- northwestwards with a wind speed of 13 km/h.
With wind speeds reaching 120 km/h, the Cyclone would continue to make landfall till morning of October 25.
A warning alert regarding rainfall has been issued by IMD, with extremely heavy rainfall in Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal may occur.
Very heavy rainfall may occur over the states of Kerala and Jharkhand.
Rainfall alert has also been issued for the states of Bihar and Tamil Nadu, heavy rainfall may occur in the region.
Evacuation Process Undertaken
In view of the destruction that can be caused by the severe cyclonic storm, measures were taken by the state governments of Odisha and West Bengal to evacuate people from areas that are likely to be severely affected by the storm. These two states will be most affected by the storm.
High tides are expected in the sea, strong winds that can cause uprooting of trees and damage to thatched roof houses. Fishermen are asked not to go in the sea.
The state government of Odisha has undertaken relief measures. The Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi said that almost 6 lakhs people were shifted to safer places and around 6,000 pregnant women were shifted to health centres, as reported by ANI news.
West Bengal is also being affected by the storm. Relief measures were also undertaken in the state, more than 3.5 lakhs people have been evacuated and have been shifted to relief centers from low lying areas. In wake of the cyclonic storm schools are closed in the region.
Flights were also suspended from Odisha’s Bhubaneswar and West Bengal’s Kolkata airports from evening of October 24 till the morning of October 25.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in a statement said that the cyclone was being tracked since October 20. The satellites EOS-6, a polar orbiting satellite and INSAT-3DR, a geostationary satellite are providing real time data and valuable information about the cyclone.
The ISRO statement also stated that the EOS-6 Scatterometer sensor provides information about ocean winds and their circulation early, before the formation of the cyclone.
Videos posted on social media show heavy rainfall and high wind speeds. The uprooted trees on roads. The sea waves were high.
The cyclone Dana is likely to move northwestwards across north Odisha and will gradually weaken into a deep depression over next six hours, a statement released by IMD stated.
