Heavy rains, strong winds last eastern coast as Cyclone Yaas landfall process begins

Cyclone Yaas has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and is set to slam into the eastern coastline by noon on Tuesday with a wind speed of 130-140kmph gusting 155 kmph.

The cyclone is very likely to cross north Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Island close to the north of Dhamra and south of Balasore, by noon.

Four coastal districts of Odisha -- Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur -- are likely to be most impacted by the cyclonic storm. Ahead of the landfall, heavy rainfall and strong winds have started lashing Chandipur in Odisha's Balasore district. 

According to private weather forecasting agency Skymet, the cyclone Yaas landfall process has started and will take 4 hours to complete.

IMD said tidal waves of 2 to 4 meters in height are likely to inundate low-lying areas of Balasore and Bhadrak while wind speed of 155-165 kmph and gusting to 185 kmph may prevail over Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Bhadrak when the cyclone enters the land early in the morning.

According to the government advisory, there could be total destruction of thatched houses. The force of the cyclone could uproot power and communication poles, damage roads, flood escape routes, disrupt Railways, overhead power lines and signalling systems and affect visibility.

The cyclone will also cause widespread damage to standing crops, plantations, orchards, falling of green coconuts and tearing of palm fronds.

As a precautionary measure, the West Bengal government evacuated 11 lakh people from south Bengal's coastal areas while Odisha shifted over 3 lakh people to safety.

After taking stock of the situation in coastal districts, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, "Every life is precious, thus all possible steps should be taken to protect life."

In West Bengal, there were two instances of localised tornadoes in North 24 Parganas' Halisahar and at Chinsurah and Bandel in Hooghly. Around 40 homes were damaged in a 150-metre radius and five people of persons were wounded in Halisahar.

Eight flyovers in Kolkata have been closed following bad weather conditions and flight operations at the Kolkata airport have been suspended till 7:45 pm.

To deal with the situation, the armed forces are on alert mode. 

"The Indian Navy has been closely monitoring the Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Yaas. Assorted relief material and community kitchen for thousand people are being made ready for immediate deployment in consultation with state authorities," Indian Navy PRO Commander Vivek Madhwal said. 

INS Chilka at Khurda has made all necessary arrangements to coordinate the rescue and relief operations in close liaison with the state government agencies and assistance from Eastern Naval Command Headquarters in Visakhapatnam.

It has also set up a 24x7 cyclone monitoring team which has been operational since May 24.

INS Netaji Subhas is spearheading the Indian Naval's relief effort in West Bengal in close coordination with the state government. Two Navy diving teams and five flood relief teams, comprising specialised Navy personnel with associated equipment and inflatable boats, have been deployed. 

One diving and two flood relief teams have been positioned at Digha and Frazerganj. One Flood Relief Team has been kept on standby at Diamond Harbour, for redeployment as necessary,  at short notice. 

In addition, the Indian Navy is positioning humanitarian assistance and disaster relief material for about 500 people at its Depot Centre at Kolkata for subsequent distribution if required in the aftermath of the Cyclone. 

The Indian Army has deployed 17 integrated relief columns, comprising specialised personnel with the necessary equipment and inflatable boats, in West Bengal.

"The deployment of the Army columns is based on a requisition and is in close coordination with the government of West Bengal," the Army said in a statement.

Columns have been positioned at Purulia, Jhargram, Birbhum, Bardhaman, West Midnapur, Howrah, Hoogly, Nadia, 24 Parganas North and South. Nine cyclone relief columns have also been kept on standby at Kolkata for redeployment as necessary in West Bengal at short notice.

It has also kept three columns and one engineer task forces for Balasore on standby. 

Meanwhile, a C-130 and two An-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force airlifted 102 passengers and 4.5 tons of cargo from Arakonnam to Kalaikunda. Another C-130 airlifted 62 passengers and 6.8 tons of cargo from Lilabari to Kolkata.

In addition, 2 IAF An-32 aircraft have been deployed for airlifting 41 passengers and 4 tons of cargo from Lilabari to Panagarh.

The ICG has deployed 20 ships at sea along the coasts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar islands.

ICG's 37 disaster response teams with lifeboats and life-saving equipment have been kept on standby.