The landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm Dana was completed on Friday (October 25) morning and the system took at least eight and half hours to enter the landmass, IMD said.
The IMD in its hourly bulletin said: “The landfall process has been completed.” The landfall of ‘Dana’ started at about 12.05 pm on Thursday night and it took around eight and half hours to end the process. The landfall process was completed at around 8.30 am on Friday, an IMD scientist told PTI.
The severe cyclone storm which hit the landmass at a wind speed of 110 kmph has weakened and has become a cyclonic storm. The cyclone lay centered at about 50 km north-north west of Dhamra and 30 km of north east of Bhadrak town.
“The maximum sustained wind speed around the centre of the cyclone is about 80 kmph to 90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph,” the IMD said. The cyclone is likely to move northwestwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a deep depression during next six hours, the IMD said, adding that the system is under continuous surveillance of the Doppler weather radar at Paradip.
Rescue work underway, flights ops resumed
Early morning visuals showed the cyclone, accompanied by a heavy downpour and gusty winds, barrelling through the coast in Odisha, ripping off trees and anything in its way.
Dhamra in Odisha, where the cyclone made its landfall is reportedly experiencing heavy rains after a brief lull post the landfall. Visuals on social media show road connectivity affected in several places due to the uprooting of trees and rescue teams working to restore communication.
Heavy rains have also been reported in Chandbali in Bhadrak district which came in the path of the cyclone.
Flight operations which were stalled both at the airports in Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal have been resumed now.
Also read: Cyclone Dana | Heavy rains lash Odisha, West Bengal as landfall approaches
Govt’s target of zero causality achieved: Odisha CM
In his address to the media on Friday, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said there has been no casualties due to the cyclone due to vigilant administration and preparedness.
Ahead of the formation of a cyclonic system in the Bay of Bengal, the Odisha government had set a target of “Zero Casualty” and worked in that direction from day one of the preparation, he said, adding that about six lakh people were evacuated to safety for which precious human lives have been saved.
“Cyclone Dana made landfall on the intervening night of October 24 and 25 between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra coasts. This process continues till 7 am, today… Due to vigilant administration and preparedness, there has been no causality. The government’s target of ‘zero causality’ is achieved. Almost 6 lakh people have been shifted to safer places. 6,000 pregnant women are shifted to health centres,” he said.
While thanking all the stakeholders including ministers, MLAs, other peoples representatives, rescue teams of NDRF, ODRAF, Fire Service, Odisha Police, social activists, media and others, the chief minister said: “By the grace of Lord Jagannath and cooperation of all, the government have succeeded in saving human lives.”
Districts under watch
Ahead of the landfall, the coastal districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore and nearby Jagatsinghpur district witnessed sudden increase in wind speed which reached 100 kmph to 110 kmph and extremely heavy rain. A revenue department official said reports of trees getting uprooted were also received at the office of the Special Relief Commissioner.
However, there was no report of any major damage or casualty since the beginning of the landfall process, the official told PTI.
Also read: People scurry for cover in Odisha’s Kendrapara as Cyclone Dana barrels towards coast
5.85 lakh evacuated from high risk zones
Earlier on Thursday, Chief Minister Majhi said that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had enquired about the Odisha government’s preparedness to tackle the situation arising out of the cyclone.
The chief minister said that the state has already evacuated around 5.84 lakh people from the high risk zones located in the low-lying areas of coastal districts.
Meanwhile, IMD DG Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the region where the landfall commenced would witness high velocity wind at the speed of about 120 kmph till Friday morning. He said the landfall also accelerated the tidal surge, which could go up to two metres above the astronomical height, in Kendrapada, Balasore and Bhadrak districts. The landfall process of cyclone usually takes five to six hours, he said.
Mohapatra said that the system will continue to remain as the severe cyclonic storm will gradually weaken on Friday and move deeper in the state, triggering heavy rains in most places.
Heavy rains in coastal districts
Gale with wind speed 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph is already prevailing along and off north Odisha and is likely to continue till Friday morning and decrease gradually thereafter. Gale of wind speed reaching 60-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph is likely along and off south Odisha till Friday morning and decrease gradually thereafter, the IMD said.
The weather agency has also said that light-to-moderate rainfall in most places and heavy-to-very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall (above 21 cm) at isolated places in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal, Khurda and Puri districts are expected till October 25.
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Bengal gets heavy rains, water logging reported
As the cyclone made its landfall in Odisha, heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed parts of southern West Bengal.
Waterlogging has been reported in several parts of Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas, compounding the misery of the affected residents. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but initial reports suggested the storm brought heavy rains, which continued into Friday morning, causing inundation in low-lying areas.
2.5 lakh evacuated in Bengal
The state administration evacuated over 2.5 lakh people till Thursday evening in anticipation of the severe cyclonic storm. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state had identified more than 3.5 lakh people for evacuation from low-lying areas. Banerjee, along with senior officials, camped at the state secretariat overnight to monitor the situation.
Thirteen battalions from the state’s disaster management force and 14 battalions from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the coastal regions, officials said.
Airport operations suspended, trains cancelled
Operations at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport were suspended from 6 PM on Thursday until 9 AM on Friday due to expected high winds and heavy rain.
South Eastern Railway (SER), which oversees routes in West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand, has cancelled more than 170 express and passenger trains scheduled between October 23 and 27.
Additionally, Eastern Railway cancelled 68 suburban trains in the Howrah division for Friday morning, while all EMU local trains from Sealdah station were suspended from Thursday evening till Friday morning.
Kolkata Port authorities also halted ship movements until Friday evening as a precautionary measure.
Also read: Wayanad ground report: Destroyed homes, loss of loved ones leave villagers in shock
Rainfall intensified in the early morning hours across the affected districts, including Kolkata, which experienced moderate-to-heavy rainfall, along with hailstorms, since Thursday night.
“Rainfall is ongoing in the impacted regions, and the warning will remain in place until Friday,” the Met official stated.
Authorities on high alert
Power Minister Aroop Biswas said that while there has been significant rainfall and strong winds, a detailed damage assessment will be available by the evening, with an initial report expected by 11 am.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has mobilised teams to clear uprooted trees from city streets as part of their disaster response efforts.
The authorities remain on high alert as the impact of the cyclone continues to unfold across the region.
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