As Cyclone Dana headed towards the Odisha coast, the state already felt the brunt of the cyclonic storm on Thursday. 

Mainly districts like Kendrapara and Bhadrak have been experiencing incessant rain, gusty winds and turbulent seas due to the effect of the cyclonic storm.

While the sea has breached the shore at some places, high tides were witnessed at some other places. Moreover, huge trees were uprooted and electricity polls were damaged in some other districts.

As per reports, sea conditions turned turbulent in the Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts ahead of the impending landfall of Cyclone Dana between Dhamra and Bhitarkanika. Some boats capsized and were pulled into the sea due to the high tides despite being anchored.

“The level of water has increased by 50 to 100 metres. The wind speed has also increased considerably. We had tied the boat safely. However, those capsized and got pulled into the sea due to the powerful tides,” said a resident in Dhamra.

Cyclone Dana: emergency helpline numbers for Odisha

Railway Helpline Numbers for Cyclone Dana

Meanwhile, the turbulent sea breached the shore at some places in the Kendrapara district. Generally, the sea tides remain 40-50 metres away from the security dyke. However, the turbulent sea witnessed high tides due to the effect of the cyclonic storm today. People in the areas are in a state of panic as the sea is experiencing tides up to 10 ft high.

Several parts of Bhitarkanika National Park have been inundated due to the incessant rain under the influence of the cyclonic storm.

Residents of Talachua and Rajendra Nagar areas under Rajnagar block in Kendrapara district are trying their best to stop the high tides of the sea entering their villages by putting sandbags.

“If the road gets damaged, our villages will be inundated in water and we will be cut off from the mainland,” said a local resident.

Apart from Kendrapara and Bhadrak, people in Balasore, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts are also bearing the brunt of the cyclone fury.

Several areas in the districts have been experiencing heavy rainfall since Wednesday night. 

Road communication has been snapped in the Astaranga area due to the uprooting of trees. Similarly, power supply has been affected in the Basta area of Balasore and the Betanati area in Mayurbhanj as some trees have been uprooted in the prevailing winds.

Road communication was also temporarily snapped at the Mahakalapada area in Kendrapara district due to the uprooting of some huge trees on roads. However, fire services personnel cleared the road on a war footing.

“Now the wind speed is around 40-50kmph. When the cyclone will make landfall, the speed of the wind will definitely increase. We are in a state of panic as huge trees will be uprooted during the period,” said a resident in Kendrapara.