A Repeat Of Last Year's Amphan? India's Eastern Coast Braces For Very Severe Cyclone Yaas

Just over a year after Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan wreaked havoc in states like West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar, India's eastern coast is bracing for another one.

Cyclone Yaas which is currently located over the Bay of Bengal is likely to turn into a ¡®very severe cyclonic storm¡¯ once it hits the Indian coast on May 26.

Yaas is likely to make landfall near Balasore in north Odisha at a speed of 155 kmph to 165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph, around noon on May 26, the Met department said.

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Moving in north-northwesterly direction

Met department officials said the storm system, which lay centred about 550 km south-southeast of Balasore at 5.30 pm on Monday is moving in a north-northwesterly direction, the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata, said.

Set to intensify in next 24 hours

It will intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by Monday night and further intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by May 26 within the next 12 hours.

Yaas will cross the shore between Paradip in Odisha and Sagar island in West Bengal, close to Balasore, officials said.

"At the time of landfall near Balasore, wind speed will reach 155 kmph to 165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph, along and off Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts in Odisha and in East Midnapore district of West Bengal," Sanjib Bandopadhyay, the deputy director at the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata, said.

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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the state is targeting to shift at least 10 lakh people to safer places in a bid to avoid any loss of life.

More impact than Amphan?

"Cyclone Yaas's impact is going to be much more than Amphan, according to the information we have received so far. This is going to affect at least 20 districts in West Bengal. The districts of Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur will be severely affected," she said.

The districts of Howrah, Hooghly, Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, Paschim and Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Murshidabad, Jhargram, Purulia would also be affected by the cyclone, she said.

In Malda, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur, Darjeeling and Kalimpong there is a forecast of rain, Banerjee added.

The calamity will continue for 72 hours, she said.

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Rescue teams on stand by already

At least 51 disaster management teams have been readied, keeping in view the possible devastations predicted by experts, Banerjee said.

"From Tuesday, we will continue surveillance for the next 48 hours from the control room at the state secretariat. Control rooms have also been made operational at district and sub-division levels," the chief minister said.

Extensive plans have been adopted for hospitals and vaccine centres, Banerjee said, adding that all types of medicines -- on diarrhea, fever, snake bites -- have been asked to be kept ready.

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In Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the people living in the coastal regions to cooperate with the local administration and shift to cyclone shelters.

Addressing the people of the state on Monday, the Chief Minister also asked them to adhere to COVID-19 protocols and wear two masks.

Stay safe

"At a time when we are fighting with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cyclone Yaas is another challenge that we have to face. Last year in May, we had faced cyclone Amphan along with COVID-19 and with help of the people, it was well managed. This time, too, we will all work in tandem to combat the calamity and the pandemic," Patnaik said.

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"Our priority is to save every life, therefore I request you all to shift to a safe place and cyclone shelters and give full cooperation to the administration. Due to the COVID pandemic we need to be more careful, people need to use two face masks and to follow other COVID appropriate behavior," the Chief Minister added.

Yaas will be the second cyclone to hit India in less than two weeks.

Cyclone Tauktae killed at least 140 people across western states last week. Nearly 70 victims were on a barge that ripped free of its anchors in the storm and sank off Mumbai's coast.