Odisha on high alert over cyclone threat
Bhubaneswar: Odisha has asked the collectors of 14 districts to be on high alert as a depression formed over the Bay of Bengal could intensify into a cyclonic storm and hit the state coast, officials said Wednesday. The government has directed the collectors of cyclone prone districts, including the coastal districts of Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Puri and Ganjam, not to take the warning lightly and asked them to prepare their plan at ground level.
"We are monitoring the situation. As the cyclone gets closer, we will issue fresh alerts," state's special relief
commissioner Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra told IANS. He said the National Disaster Response Force, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and Fire Department have also been asked to remain prepared for rescue and relief operation.
The state has also written to the central government requesting them to keep choppers ready, he said. The depression has formed over the north-Andaman Sea and was centred about 1250 km east-southeast of Paradip, in the state's Jagatsinghpur district, an official of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.
The system would intensify into a deep depression and further into a cyclonic storm, the official told IANS. It would move west-northwestwards towards Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast and may make a landfall Oct 12 evening or night, he said.
The Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre has advised fishermen not to venture into the Bay of Bengal. Paradip and Gopalpur ports have been asked to hoist Distant Cautionary Signal Number One, he said. Many areas in Odisha are likely to experience widespread rainfall. A few places will experience heavy to very heavy rainfall during the next two days, the Met official said.
Andhra, Odisha gear up to face 'Phailin' cyclonic storm
The severe cyclonic storm Phailin over east central Bay of Bengal on Friday further intensified and is all set to make a landfall close to Gopalpur in Odisha at a wind speed of at least 205 kmph on Saturday.
What's happening today# Weather office expects windspeeds of 200kmph-250kmph when cyclone Phailin makes landfall in Gopalpur district in Odisha on Saturday evening.
# Authorites fear 'extreme damage' and flooding in low-lying districts of coastal Andhra. People have been asked to evacuate low-lying areas in Srikakulam.
# Phailin is expected to hit hardest in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari districts. Teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) have started preparing for the cyclone in the five districts.
# AKV Mohan, a businessman in Visakhapatnam, told HT correspondent that people in the town are stocking up on food and fuel. There has been a sudden rise in the sale of candles.
# Schools and colleges in Vishakhapatnam are closed; associations are moving around the district and advising people to prepare for the cyclone.
# "The very severe cyclonic storm, Phailin over east central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph and lay centred about 520km south-southeast of Paradip, 530 from Gopalpur and 530km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam," the IMD said in its latest bulletin.
"It would move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by the evening of October 12," the IMD said.
IMD, which till Thursday night expected that the wind speed would remain limited within 185 kmph during landfall on Saturday, said in its latest bulletin that Phailin would hit with increased intensity with a maximum sustained speed of 205-215 kmph.
# A morning bulletin of Bhubaneswar meteorological department on Friday said, "It would move northwestward and cross Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatam (Andhra Pradesh) and Paradip, close to Gopalpur, by Saturday evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained speed of 205-215km per hour."
# The deep depression over east central Bay of Bengal, which had intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on Thursday morning, has intensified further and lay centred at 2.30am on Friday about 590km south-southeast of Paradip and 600km southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha coast.
In the next 24 hours, rain and thundershower would also hit most areas in Odisha.
"The state of sea along and off Odisha coast will be rough and very rough from Friday morning and become phenomenal the next day," the bulletin said.
"Storm surge with a height of 2-2.5 metres above astronomical tide would inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts."
Tropical Storm Risk, a London based storm tracking service, has categorised Phailin as Category 4 cyclonic storm on a scale of 1 to 5. The super-cyclone in Odisha that had killed about 10,000 people in 1999 was a Category 5 cyclonic storm.
All Necessary Commodities Rate Increased due to cyclone News Updates.....
Cyclone Phailin LIVE: Odisha braces for the 200 kmph storm
The Odisha government has cancelled the Durga Puja holidays of employees in all 30 districts. They have been asked to be ready to work for rescue and relief operations in the coastal districts likely to be affected by the storm.
Officials have been told to stock up on dry and cooked food and medicines in cyclone shelters.
Officials said Ganjam and Gajapati districts in Odisha were likely to be the most vulnerable to the cyclonic storm, followed by the state's Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Balasore and Bhadrak districts.
The government has already deployed the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and started mock drills in the districts most likely to be affected.
On Thursday, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had cancelled his New Delhi visit and written to Union defence minister AK Antony for help in dealing with the impending calamity.
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