The cyclone will move north-northeastwards and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha and Hatiya close to Sundarbans during the afternoon to the evening of Wednesday with a wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.

Kolkata: Super Cyclone Amphan moved closer to the coast, triggering rainfall in several parts of Odissa and West Bengal. The super Cyclone Amphan weekend into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday. The state government stepped up efforts to evacuate people in vulnerable areas.

Super cyclone ‘Amphan’ barrels towards the Indian shores in West Bengal and Odisha, lakhs of people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas and shifted to safety. Amphan—the second super cyclone to have had formed over the Bay of Bengal in two decades—is expected to make a landfall between Digha, some 180 km south of Kolkata in West Bengal, and Hatiya islands in Bangladesh during the afternoon to evening hours of Wednesday, May 20, with the maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph. As cyclone Amphan, which is pronounced as Um-pun, rumbles towards the Indian coastline.

Coastal Odisha will experience gale winds ranging between 100 – 110 km/hr gusting to 125 km/hr along Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts till Wednesday afternoon. Strong winds would lash Bhadrak district till evening, today.

According to the latest IMB reports extremely severe cyclonic storm lay centered over northwest and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal. The cyclone is located about 250 kms south of Paradip in Odissa and 390 kms south, southwest of Digha in West Bengal and 540 kms south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh.

Earlier on Wednesday, the NDRF chief SN Pradhan said that a total of 41 teams of the NDRF have been deployed in West Bengal in Odissa to deal with any emergency situation arising out of Super Cyclone Amphan, he said in a press briefing. IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said since the super Cyclone is gradually weakening, its impact is unlikely to be very severe on Odissa.

The Met department has advised that all establishments and markets remain closed in Kolkata and adjoining areas and movement of people be restricted on May 20. There is likely to be disruption of rail and road link at several places, uprooting of communication and power poles, extensive damage to all types of ‘kutcha’ houses and some damage to “old badly managed pucca” structures and potential threat from flying objects, the weatherman warned.

There is also likelihood of extensive damage to standing crops, plantations and orchards and blowing down of palm and coconut trees, the Met said. The weatherman has advised diversion or suspension of rail and road traffic in the districts which are likely to be affected.

During the last six hours, the storm has moved closer to the coast at a speed of 22kmhr. Kolkata on Wednesday morning, the Super Cyclonic Storm ‘AMPHAN’ (pronounced as UM-PUN) is very likely to move north-northeastwards across the northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal – Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during afternoon to evening hours May 20, 2020 with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.

As of 9.30 am, the Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Amphan lay 123 kms southeast of this port; 177 km south-southeast of Digha, West Bengal. Other cities that experienced heavy rainfall here include Puri (98.2mm), Chandbali (75.2mm), Balasore (71.3mm) and Bhubaneshwar (58mm).