The system is likely to become more marked during next 24 hours.
"Under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over Northwest Bay of Bengal & neighbourhood, a Low Pressure Area has formed over Northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha-West Bengal coasts. It is likely to become more marked during next 24 hours," Bhubaneswar meteorological centre tweeted.
The weather office had earlier predicted that the low pressure area will bring widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy rainfall in several districts of the State from August 6 to 10.
Here are the forecast for the next five days
Day 1- Orange warning: Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Puri, Khordha, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Malkangiri, Boudh and Koraput.
Yellow Warning: Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Nuapada, Sonepur, Bargarh, Nawarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati, Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Nayagarh, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, and Kendrapada.
Day 2- Orange warning: Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Nawarangpur, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Boudh, Bolangir, Ganjam, Puri, and Rayagada.
Yellow Warning: Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Khordha, Sonepur, Angul, Nayagarh, Gajapati and Bargarh.
Day 3- Orange warning: Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khordha, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Dhenkanal with extremely heavy rainfall (>20cm) at isolated places over the districts of Ganjam, Puri, and Jagatsinghpur.
Yellow Warning: Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Boudh, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sonepur, Nuapada, Bolangir, Nawarangpur, Rayagada and Gajapati.
Day 4- Orange warning: Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Bolangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Boudh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Kalahandi, Jharsuguda, Dhenkanal and Jajpur with extremely heavy rainfall (>20cm) at isolated places over the districts of Bolangir, Bargarh, Sonepur and Boudh.
Yellow Warning: Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Kandhamal, Nuapada, Nawarangpur, Nayagarh, Puri, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh.
Day 5- Yellow Warning: Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Angul, Kendrapada, and Dhenkanal
"Under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over south Jharkhand & neighbourhood, a Low Pressure Area has formed over North Odisha and adjoining south Jharkhand & Gangetic West Bengal with associated cyclonic circulation extending upto 5.8 km above mean sea level," IMD Bhubaneswar tweeted.
As per the earlier prediction of the weather department, widespread light to moderate rainfall activity with isolated heavy (7 to 11 cm) to very heavy (11 to 20 cm) rainfall at one or two places is likely to occur during the next 4 to 5 days over some districts of Odisha under the influence of the low pressure.
In view of the forecast, the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on Sunday issued advisory to Collectors of all districts.
The Collectors have been asked to closely monitor the situation and submit a report on the damage, if occurred due to heavy rainfall.
As per a preliminary report received from districts, six human causalities have been reported including three from Kendrapara district due to wall collapse, one each from Ganjam and Subarnapur districts due to wall collapse and one from Khordha district due to drowning, the SRC report said.
Two more persons one each from Cuttack Nishintakoili and Bolangir Puintala are missing, SRC Pradeep Jena added.
“Two persons missing reported (One person missing due to drowning in Nischintakoili Block of Cuttack district and one other missing in Laxmi fore nullah of Puintala Block in Balangir district. Detail investigation is going on by the District Administration,” he stated in a report.
As per the data shared by the office of the SRC, as many as 23,82,795 people of 4964 villages under 139 blocks in 24 districts have been affected due to incessant rain triggered by low pressure which subsequently intensified into a deep-depression.
At least 7540 houses have been damaged due to the rain while 20552 people have been evacuated so far.
Yesterday, the SRC directed the Collectors of all districts to assess damage to private properties due to the heavy rain and furnish the assessment report within a week i.e. by September 22 for allotment of funds for disbursement.
In the subsequent 6-hours, the system will move north and lie close to the Odisha coast. As a consequence, the system will induce heavy rainfall in the interior south and coastal region of the State from the morning of Tuesday.
The prediction by leading meteorology institutes like IMD, US-GFS and ECMWF shows the State receiving widespread intermittent rainfall till the evening hours of August 18.
Rainfall Forecast Till August 16
As the heavy downpour continued since yesterday, several streets were flooded while some houses in the low lying areas of the city also got inundated this morning.
The district administration has evacuated 1,500 people from several low-lying areas to 34 shelter homes. People in Hirakud and Burla have been worst affected due to the acute waterlogging, informed Sambalpur Collector.
Also Read: Weather Alert: Thunderstorm, Lightning alert for 9 Odisha districts
While addressing a presser today, Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi informed that Burla recorded highest rainfall of 622 mm in the past 24 hours.
Under the influence of the upper air cyclonic circulation over Northwest Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood, a low pressure area has formed over Northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal Odisha today, IMD sources said.
In its forecast, the IMD said that rain and thundershower is likely to occur at most places in coastal districts of the State in next 24 hours.
The IMD also warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places over South Odisha and heavy rainfall at one or two places in North Odisha in next 24 hours.
Also Read: Heavy Rains Lash Twin-City, Inundate Low-Lying Places
Besides, strong gusty surface wind from Southeast direction with speed reaching 45-50 kmph gusting up to 60 kmph is likely to prevail along and off Odisha Coast.
IMD has meanwhile advised fishermen not to venture into sea citing rough to very rough condition.
Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi informed that excess flood water from Hirakud dam is being released through 25 gates. As a result, nearly 8 to 8.5 lakh cusecs of water is expected to reach Mundali by Thursday.
Earlier, flood water was being released through 20 gates while five more gates of Hirakud were opened this evening.
It is pertinent to mention that the water level of Hirakud is on the rise following the incessant rain in the upper catchment areas in Chhattisgarh.
"We have asked the district collectors of Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack to remain alert even though there is no major flood threat in Odisha," said Sethi.
Sethi further informed that the Sambalpur district administration has been asked to take necessary measures for the evacuation of people from low-lying areas keeping in view the release of excess flood water through Hirakud dam.
Also Read: Private Coaching Centre In Bhubaneswar Gutted In Major Fire Mishap
Official sources informed that flood-like situation has been reported in Tihidi and Bhadrak Municipality and already ODRAF and NDRF units are in place which will be pressed into service as soon as required.
Hirakud Chief Engineer, Jyotirmayi Rath stated that the flood like situation in Mahanadi system is mainly due to incessant rain in Chhattisgarh and subsequent release of excess water through Ravishankar reservoir and two other medium projects by the neighbouring State.
The Regional Meteorological Science Centre of IMD in Bhubaneswar predicted that under the influence of the well-marked low pressure near West Bengal, Odisha coast and its adjoining areas, the State would continue to receive incessant rainfall till Wednesday.
The administrations of eight districts- Jajpur, Kendrapara, Angul, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Boudh and Bargarh have been asked to remain alert in view of the Red Warning (take action) & heavy to very heavy rainfall forecast issued by the IMD for the next 24 hours.
Latest #WeatherUpdates by Duty Officer of #Bhubaneswar Meteorological Department Charan Behera #Odisha pic.twitter.com/aDFO0SWAIj
— OTV (@otvnews) July 2, 2019
Similarly, the weather department has also predicted thunderstorm and lightning warning for parts of Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Nayagarh districts.
“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall in north Odisha. The intensity of rainfall will decrease after 24 hours except in western parts of Odisha, where heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places,” informed Director of IMD, Bhubaneswar HR Biswas.
On the other hand, normal life has been thrown out of gear across the State due to enhanced rainfall activities since yesterday. Several low-lying areas in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar have been waterlogged forcing residents to stay indoors. Vehicular communication has also been hit due to inundation of major roads in the low lying areas.
Heavy downpours throw normal life out of gear in #Cuttack #Odisha (Report by Debasis Mohanty-Deferred live visuals) pic.twitter.com/qoCgVn11c0
— OTV (@otvnews) July 2, 2019
Similarly, torrential rainfall has inundated Badadanda and other adjoining regions in Puri Town where Rath Yatra festivities will begin from Thursday.
“In the last 24 hours, Chandbali has recorded the highest rainfall at 122.3 mm followed by Bolangir at 92.6 mm, Bhubaneswar -70.8, Sonepur -70.0 mm, Cuttack-55.4 mm, Sambalpur-58.6 and Hirakud-50.2,” informed Charan Behera, Duty Officer of Bhubaneswar Met Centre.
Commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) Ananya Das informed that attempts to drain out excess water from inundated low lying areas of the city are underway.
Communication in the district has been severely affected with rainwater flowing above several low-lying bridges in Poteru, Kankoraokonda, Kanyashram, MV-90 and Korkunda areas today. Road connectivity between Malkangiri and Kalimela, Kalimela and Padia & Motu areas has totally snapped because of the submerged bridges. Many roads to remote areas of the district have been flooded on account of torrential rain.
Meanwhile, the Met department has predicted heavy rainfall activity in the next couple of days. A cyclonic circulation formed over Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a low pressure within one or two days, informed Met office sources. As a result, rainfall activity will further increase across Odisha from August 1 even as the State has been experiencing heavy rain since the last few days.
#OdishaWeatherUpdate: “Rainfall activity to intensify from August 1 as a low-pressure formation is predicted in a couple of days; heavy to very heavy rainfall predicted in several districts in next 24 hours," says Madhusudan Mishra of IMD Bhubaneswar #Odisha #HeavyRainInOdisha pic.twitter.com/Uogu2rpDV7
— OTV (@otvnews) July 29, 2019
“A cyclonic circulation lies over northwest Bay of Bengal & the neighborhood, which extends up to 7.6km above mean sea level and under its influence a low pressure area is likely to form during the next 2-3 days,” informed Duty Officer of Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, Madhusudan Mishra.
Several parts of the State will receive medium to heavy rainfall under the influence of the low pressure while heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in some districts including Kalahandi, Koraput, Kandhamal and Malkangiri within 24 hours, said Mishra.
Similarly, nine districts of the State will receive heavy rain in the next 24 hours. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also warned fishermen not to venture into sea for the next two days.
As per reports, rainwater has been flowing five-feet over several bridges at Korkonda, Kankarkonda and MV 37 snapping communication in many parts of Malkangiri district. People and hundreds of vehicles are reportedly stranded on both sides of the bridges. Besides, many roads in the remote areas of the tribal-dominated district have remained inundated due to the heavy downpour.
On the other hand, torrential rain has paralysed normal life in Rayagada district. Train services on Rayagada-Titlagarh route has been severely affected after the railway track near Ambodala Railway station got washed away in the flash flood triggered by rainfall. As a result of it, three wagons of a goods train derailed near the station today. However, there was no damage to the rest 56 wagons of the train.
As many as six passenger and two express trains have been cancelled while five express trains were diverted by the East Coast Railways (ECoR) due to the inundation of railway track on the route.
Meanwhile, the ECoR has started repairing the damaged track and also released three helpline numbers- 9437386759 (Sambalpur Railway Station), 8455892831 (Titlagarh Railway Station) and 9437386693 for the help people in need.
The ECoR also announced cash rewards of Rs 5,000 for two track patrolmen- S. Naidu and M. Ramana, engaged in duty on Ambadola section for alerting train staff about the damaged track in time.
Besides, communication disrupted to five villages in Rayagada as water is reportedly flowing above a bridge near Hatamuniguda on Malisiripur-Paridiguda road. Moreover, a road near Khamasingi in Kolnara block also collapsed in the flash flood leading to the disruption of communication between Badakhilapadar and Khamasingi. Another canal bridge collapsed near Jugapadar affecting communication to Moringa.
Besides, the water level in Bansadhara river is reportedly on the rise in Gunupur area of the district and currently flowing above the danger mark. The water level in Nagabali river has also extensively increased, said sources.
In Kandhamal district, a portion of the river bridge connecting Baliguda and Jharipani near Sirila village got washed away in flash flood. A bridge in Tumudibandh block also caved in disrupting communication to many villages in the region.
Briefing media, Sethi said that several rivers in the State are in spate and as a result, rainwater is flowing over almost all the low-lying bridges of Malkangiri district and many bridges have also been submerged in Rayagada and Kandhamal districts.
“The current water level of Bansadhara River is 55.75 metre and the river is flowing above the danger level of 54.06 metre at Kashinagar. Due to the rise in the water level, the concerned administration has shifted the residents of Sara village in Kashninagar to a school building,” the SRC informed.
“Floodwater entered several areas of Gudari Town in Rayagada forcing the administration to shift many people to safer places. People residing in low-lying areas of Bissamcuttack have also been rescued and shifted. The situation is under control in Kalyansinghpur block,” added Sethi.
In Kandhamal, rainwater was flowing over two bridges at Tikabali and Tumudibandh while all the low-lying bridges in Malkangiri district have been submerged, said Sethi.
“ODRAF teams have been deployed in Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Kashinagar. The Fire services teams have also been kept ready for exigencies. We are monitoring the situation and Gajapati district Collector is in touch with Srikakulam Collector in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for rescue & relief operations, if required,” said the SRC.
The depression that formed over northwest Bay of Bengal off north Odisha and West Bengal coasts has intensified into a deep depression triggering rainfall in several parts of the State.
“The deep depression now lay centred about 70 km southeast of Balasore in Odisha and 70 km south southwest of Digha in West Bengal,” said the duty officer of Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, Charan Behera.
Under its influence, heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Sambalpur, Deogarh, Bolangir, Nuapada and Bargarh districts. Similarly, Sonepur, Jhrasuguda, Angul, Dhenkanal and Sundergarh districts might experience heavy rainfall triggered by the deep depression.
Odisha has witnessed record rainfall in the last 24 hours. Six districts received rainfall above 100 mm while nine districts recorded 50 to 100 mm rainfall. Rayagada’s Kashipur recorded highest 330 mm, Sonepur’s Tarabha 249 mm, Muniguda 229 mm, Kandhamal’s Daringbadi 145 mm, Malkangiri’s Korkonda 175 mm and Puri recorded 106 mm rainfall.
Under the impact of incessant rainfall, swelling of floodwater from Rajua river, a tributary of Daya river has submerged around 25 villages in five Panchayats of Khurda including Obarasingh, Dihakhala, Manapur and Orami.
The acute waterlogging has thrown normal life out of gear cutting connectivity to and from the region. Local residents are experiencing a hard time after being unable to get any relief and assistance from the administration.
Local BJP leader Kalu Khandayatray said despite repeated backwater flood due to Rajua River, the administration is not taking any sincere attempts to find a solution by constructing a permanent embankment.
"Even though three days have elapsed since flooding in the area, no assistance or cooked food has been provided to the people," Khandayatray said.
Due to rise in Daya, Luna, Makara and Rajua rivers, as many as six panchayats of Kanasa block in Puri district have been submerged. Balipatana and Dokanda village have also been completely marooned by the floodwater.
Locals allege that opening of sluice gates of Hirakud Dam is the prime cause behind a sudden rise in water level of the tributaries.
Elsewhere, Mahanadi is also witnessing a large inflow of water due to discharge from Hirakud dam. Even though the dam authorities have closed 10 gates of the reservoir, the large amount of floodwater which was released from the reservoir a day before is causing the rise in the water level and the subsequent flooding in Banki area of Cuttack district.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological department today issued further rainfall warning for several parts of the State under the impact of a fresh trough line over Chhattisgarh-Odisha-Jharkhand.
The weatherman has issued an orange warning to several districts and predicted heavy rainfall for 12 districts till 14th September.
"Almost all the coastal districts have been alerted as there is likelihood of rain with thunderstorms in the next 24 hours. Some interior districts like, Bolangir, Boudh, Kandhamal and Sonepur have been issued lightening alerts too," said duty officer of Regional Meteorological Center, Laxmidhar Mohapatra.
Though, there weren’t any reports of casualties, damages to property in the thunderstorm reportedly were huge.
Similarly the district of Phulbani witnessed heavy rains early in the morning today. Strong wind in the area has forced commuters to stay indoors despite being a working day. A roof of a coaching centre in Penjisahi reportedly collapsed injuring many students, who were immediately admitted to hospital for treatment.
The twin city of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar wasn’t spared too as ominous clouds greeted the denizens early in the morning following a spell of heavy rain accompanied by strong wind.
As per a report by the met department, the district of Sonepur received the highest amount of rainfall at 57.8 mm in the last 24 hours. Boudh, Bolangir and Talcher received downpour of 45.2 mm, 30 mm and 14 mm respectively.
Adding to the woes of an already rain soaked Odisha the Regional Meteorological Centre at Bhubaneswar has issued fresh rainfall warning for north and coastal Odisha in the next 24 hours. Yellow warning has been issued for Cuttack, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri districts as heavy rainfall is predicted in these areas over the next 24 hours. On the other hand, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and Boudh districts are expected to see gusty surface winds up to the speed of 40 kmph accompanied by light to moderate rain.
As per the predictions of Ajay Nayak, the duty officer at Regional Met Centre in Bhubaneswar, “The overcast conditions are temporary and most probably would subside after 27th Feb. Dry weather will continue in the state after that.”