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CYCLONE AMPHAN- POUND ODISHA
Cyclone Amphan: Heavy downpour, high velocity winds pound Odisha
BHUBANESWAR, India, May 20, 2020 (BSS/PTI) – As cyclone “Amphan”
hurtled towards the coast, heavy downpour coupled with high velocity
winds pounded coastal Odisha, uprooting trees and flattening fragile
structures, officials said on Wednesday.
More than 1.25 lakh people have so far been evacuated from low-lying
coastal areas and the process of evacuation was still underway in some
places like Balasore on Wednesday morning, Special Relief Commissioner
(SRC), P K Jena, said
Intense rainfall was recorded in several areas of Puri, Khurda,
Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Ganjam, Ganjam, Bhadrak
and Balasore districts since Tuesday, officials said.
The extremely severe cyclonic storm lay about 120 km east-southeast of
Paradip in Odisha, 200 km south of Digha (West Bengal) and 360 km
southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh), said H R Biswas, the Director of
the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.
The current intensity of wind speed near the centre of the system
stood at 170 to 180 kmph, while the wind velocity near Paradip was 102
kmph. Near Chandbali the wind speed was 74 kmph, he said.
It is likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of
Bengal and cross West Bengal Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West
Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sunderbans during
evening hours of Wednesday, with a maximum sustained wind speed of
155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.
The system is now being continuously tracked by the Doppler Weather
Radar (DWR) at Vishakhapatnam, Paradip and Gopalpur, he said.
Jena said Paradip recorded 214 mm of rainfall since Tuesday, while it
was 87 mm in Puri, 70.5 mm in Chandbali, 58.5 mm in Balasore and 50 mm
in Bhubaneswar as heavy downpour battered many parts of coastal
Odisha.
People living in thatched, mud and ‘kucha’ structures are being
persuaded to move to the cyclone shelters for their safety, he said,
adding that many people were initially reluctant to shift in view of
COVID-19 scare.
While a thorough assessment of damage caused by the cyclone will be
made, there are reports of many trees being uprooted from different
areas including Erasama and Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.
Many betel vines have also been damaged in Dhinkia area of
Jagatsinghpur district, the SRC said, adding response teams have been
deployed in all the coastal districts to ensure quick restoration of
power and road communication wherever they suffer damage.
The impact of Amphan will remain in the state till the afternoon, he
said, adding that the wind speed in some places is expected to reach
100 kmph to 110 kmph gusting to 125 kmph in northern coastal parts of
Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts
during the period.
A report from Bhadrak district said many trees and electric poles were
uprooted in the district under the impact of gusty winds and heavy
downpour, blocking roads in several areas.
Heavy downpour accompanied by gusty wind also lashed Kendrapara where
district administration has evacuated 38,000 people from vulnerable
seaside pockets to the safety of multi-purpose cyclone shelter
buildings.
Reports of trees and electric poles being uprooted and ‘kutcha ‘
houses being blown away are coming in from various parts of the
district. However, there has been no major damage to life and property
so far.
“We have evacuated vulnerable people to maintain zero-causality,”
said Kendrapara Collector Samath Verma.
“The wind speed is picking up. The trees have got uprooted…However,
we are feeling safe inside the cyclone shelter building. However, it
is jam- packed. As a result social distancing to contain the spread of
coronavirus is not being maintained here”, said Pradyot Giri, who has
taken shelter at Bagagahana multi-purpose building in Rajnagar tehsil.
Amphan is considered to be the second major cyclonic storm in the Bay
of Bengal after the Super Cyclone of 1999 which had claimed around
10,000 lives and inflicted large scale devastation in Odisha.
The cyclone comes a year after Fani barreled through vast parts of
Odisha on May 3, claiming at least 64 lives and destroying power,
telecom and other vital infrastructure.
BSS/PTI/MRU/2100hrs