Cyclone Yaas live updates: Heavy showers, strong winds lash Odisha

“The wind speed in the capital will be between 60 kmph and 80 kmph but it will not be continuous. The wind speed Bhubaneswar will experience can blow away some materials or damage light fittings. As precautionary measures, people should stay indoors during the cyclone,” IMD regional director H R Biswas said. Anticipating damage to billboards and hoardings, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) asked the advertisers to remove them from vulnerable locations. The hoardings, if blown away, may cause harm to people. The BMC also removed all temporary sheds created at vaccination sites anticipating damage. “Anticipating very heavy rainfall, we have decided to evacuate 20,000 people to cyclone shelters. Till late evening, none had been shifted as the situation on the ground is stable. We are yet to deploy NDRF or ODRAF teams here and will do so only after taking an update from the Met department,” said BMC additional commissioner Laxmikant Sethi.

Apart from playing a key role in evacuating people to safety ahead of the cyclonic storm, the Odisha Police have also ensured smooth transport of medical oxygen to Covid-hit states during the calamity. Instructions have been given to the superintendents of police (SP)s of the districts, especially Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj to make necessary arrangements. While liquid medical oxygen is currently being sent to different states from various industrial units in Sundargarh (Rourkela), Jajpur (Kalinga Nagar), Dhenkanal and Angul districts, the cyclone is expected to cause damage to Jajpur district. Since the oxygen-laden tankers and containers may have to pass through the cyclone-affected Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj to other states, the state police headquarters has alerted the concerned SPs to supervise the green corridor arrangement.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) director general Satya Narayan Pradhan, who is from Odisha, speaks to Debabrata Mohapatra on cyclone preparedness and challenges. Read the full interview

If the high velocity wind had wreaked havoc in Kolkata a year ago when cyclone Amphan smashed into the city, it is heavy rain brought by cyclone Yaas, coupled with year's highest tide Sarasari Baan, that threaten to inundate large parts of Kolkata. While the heavy rain forecast is expected to be much more than the maximum 10mm per hour that the city's drainage system can tackle, the timing of the Sarasari Baan on Buddha Purnima means that for several hours, the drainage pumping stations will be unable to pump out water into the Hooghly on high tide. READ FULL STORY HERE

Three deaths — two in Hooghly and one in Asansol — were reported in Bengal on Tuesday in weather-related events, even as the state government evacuated 11 lakh people from south Bengal’s coastal areas, a day before Cyclone Yaas is expected to make landfall in Odisha. There were two instances of localised tornadoes: the first, in Halisahar, North 24 Parganas, formed at 2.45pm and lasted 80 seconds, damaging 40 homes in its 150-metre radius and injured five persons; the second, reported from Chinsurah and Bandel in Hooghly around 3pm, had little impact. READ FULL STORY HERE

Cyclone Yaas, which has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm, is on course to eventually hit land to the north of Dhamra and south of Balasore in Odisha around Wednesday noon, more than 290km from Kolkata, thereby leading to a possible slide in impact on the metropolis. While the distance from the landfall spot could save Kolkata from an Amphan-like destruction, it could still be swept by winds at a speed of 60kmph, gusting to 70kmph, causing substantial damage. Even though a spell of heavy rain has been predicted for the city on Wednesday, the showers could be light to moderate and sporadic in Kolkata, the Met office said. READ FULL STORY HERE

Already engaged in a tense battle to contain the deadly coronavirus, Odisha on Tuesday launched a massive evacuation exercise as very severe cyclonic storm Yaas prepares to make landfall between Bahanaga in Balasore district and Basudevpur in Bhadrak district. While more than 3 lakh people have been evacuated till filing of this report, officials said between 7.5 to -8 lakh people would be moved to safety before the cyclone strikes. To make matters worse, the surge in Covid cases in the coastal districts means those who are positive and were in home isolation have to be kept separately so as not to further spread the virus.