News from Balasore

Earlier today the well known cyclone prediction centre has made a forecast that Cyclone Yaas will be making landfall near Bhitarkanika National Park.

Cyclonic storm Yaas has turned into a 'Very Severe Cyclonic Storm' and is currently moving at a speed of about 15kmph in the sea, informed the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Move over Covid-19; Cyclone ‘Yaas’ is here! With the ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ in the Bay of Bengal all set to wreak havoc on the northern coast, Corona has expectedly taken a backseat in the state.

At a time when the State machinery is busy in evacuating people from the line of fire of Cyclone Yaas, allegations of mismanagement at a cyclone shelter in Baunshagadia village under Balasore’s Bahanaga block dampened the spirit of other people who wanted to shift to shelter points.

The maximum number of 74,132 people have been shifted in Balasore district, followed by 73,103 from Bhadrak and 41.685 from Kendrapara

Currently, Cyclone Yaas is having marginally unfavorable vertical wind shear. However, just prior to landfall, wind shear will turn supportive and Yaas to attain peak intensity

As many as four coastal districts- Kendrapara, Jagatisnghpur, Bhadrak and Balasore have been put on high risk zone as the State government braces to tackle the impact of impending Cyclone ‘Yaas’ which is threatening to cause large scale destruction in the coastal belt of the State during landfall on May 26 morning.

Cyclone Yaas is likely to hit Odisha's coastline between Balasore and Bhadrak district somewhere near Dhamra, the Director-General of India Meteorological Department Mrutyunjay Mohapatra informed OTV. The storm will turn into a very severe cyclonic storm before making landfall around the forenoon of May 26.

The cyclonic storm over east-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a severe cyclonic storm late on Monday night. It will intensify further and transform into very severe category storm in next 12 hours.

The special weather bulletin issued by the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre on Monday evening further confirmed the likely landfall area of Cyclone Yaas between Paradip and Sagar islands, around Balasore district.

With the latest update from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) that the Cyclone Yaas is likely to make landfall somewhere around Balasore district, the State machinery is gearing up to evacuate vulnerable people from its path.

As many as 52 NDRF teams will be pressed into service in post cyclone rescue and relief operations. 22 teams have already arrived while 30 more will reach the State by tonight.

Coastal districts in the northern parts of the State including  Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore and Bhadrak are most likely bear the brunt of cyclone ‘Yaas’ which is likely to hit the coasts between North Odisha and West Bengal on May 26 noon.

The Odisha  government on Monday instructed the top brass of the State bureaucracy to oversee rescue and relief operation in various coastal districts even as the weather department predicted  cyclonic storm ‘Yaas’ is most likely to hit the coasts between North Odisha and West Bengal on May 26.

The deep depression over East-central Bay of Bengal, which had remained practically stationary during past 6 hours, today intensified into cyclonic storm. It is situated about 600 km north-northwest of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 540 km south-southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 650 km south-southeast of Balasore (Odisha) and 630 km south-southeast of Digha (West Bengal), as per the latest bulletin issued by the IMD.