Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Sunday began evacuating people from vulnerable areas and deployed 128 disaster response teams across eight districts, as the IMD predicted the formation of a cyclonic storm by Monday morning with the deep depression intensifying over the Bay of Bengal.
The IMD, in its latest bulletin issued at 9pm, said that the deep depression over south east Bay of Bengal formed earlier in the day moved west-northwestwards and lay about 790 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 900 km south-southeast of Gopalpur. “The system is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm over southwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal during the next 12 hours,” the IMD said, adding that thereafter it is likely to move northwestwards, then north-northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of October 28. “It is very likely to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada during the evening or night of October 28 as a severe cyclonic storm,” the IMD said.
The maximum sustained wind speed would be in the range of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph during the landfall time, Manorama Mohanty, the director of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said. Though the cyclone would make landfall near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, about 200 km from Malkangiri, the eastern state’s 15 districts would be impacted in the impending calamity, of which eight are likely to experience very heavy rainfall and strong winds, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said.
The minister said that ‘red warning’ (take action), predicting extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds (gusting up to 80kmph), was issued for Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts. As a precautionary measure, the state government has deployed over 5,000 highly skilled personnel in 24 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), five from NDRF and 99 Fire Service teams in these eight districts, the Minister said, adding all the districts of the state have been directed to get ready with men and machinery for rescue operations, if at all the impending cyclone changes its trajectory. “As landslides have emerged as a new challenge in Odisha, additional measures have been taken in the vulnerable areas. People are being shifted from hilly areas,” Minister Pujari said. All Anganwadi centres and schools will remain closed till October 30. The decision follows IMD forecasts predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds across several districts from October 27 to 30.
District administrations in these areas have been advised to decide on the closure of centres October 27 and 30 based on local weather conditions. Authorities have urged citizens to stay alert and follow safety advisories as the state prepares for the cyclone.
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