“Extremely Severe” Cyclone Fani enters West Bengal, Loses Both Intensity and Tag

Wepen, May 4, 2019: Cyclone Fani entered West Bengal at around midnight through Jajpur. Kolkata had a narrow escape with Fani deflecting and passing through Arambagh, Hoogly, 40 km west of Kolkata.

After entering West Bengal the “severe” cyclonic storm lost its intensity and its tag turning into a cyclone. By noon the system is expected to cross over to Bangladesh. No loss of life has been reported in West Bengal so far.

Odisha bore the brunt of Fani leaving 10 dead with heavy damage. Large tracts remained inundated in Odisha with uprotted trees and electric poles blocking roads. Telecom communication and power supply is badly affected.

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“The severe cyclonic storm Fani entered Bengal at 12:30 am Saturday through Balasore in Odisha at Jajpur. In Karagpur wind speeds were recorded at 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph. The storm is expected to cross over to Bangladesh by Saturday noon” stated Sanjib Bandopadhyay, Deputy Director General, Regional Meteorological Centre .

At 8:30am on Saturday the cyclone system was positioned at Shantipur, Nadia, 60 km north of Kolkata. From here the cyclone will enter Murshidabad and then cross over to Bangladesh as a “deep depression.”

Rains are predicted in most of the south districts of West Bengal. Weather is expected to improve considerably from Sunday.

The Kolkata Airport has been opened up. Though heavily damaged the Bhubaneshwar Airport is scheduled to become operational from 1 pm Saturday. Train service is limping back to normal in West Bengal.

The Hills of North Bengal has been experiencing continuous rainfall since Friday night. “Continuous rainfall over prolonged periods could trigger landslides. We have to remain cautious and prepared” stated Prafulla Rao of Save the Hills, an NGO working in the landslide arena.