Amphan, now in the category of Extremely Severe Cyclone, has moved closer to the mainland and is few hours away from making landfall today.

Kolkata

IE, ENS, First Post and agencies:  As per the latest update issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the ‘extremely severe’ cyclonic storm lay centred over northwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal, about 250 km south of Paradip in Odisha and 390 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal and 540 km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh.

Under its impact, light rain was witnessed in several areas of Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Khurda districts of Odisha, and the intensity of ra

IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said since the super cyclone is gradually weakening, its impact is unlikely to be very severe on Odisha.infall and wind speed was likely to increase gradually, a Met official said.

Winds at 165km/hr from forenoon in West Bengal, North Odisha

Amphan, now in the category of Extremely Severe Cyclone, has moved closer to the mainland and is few hours away from making landfall today. As of 2:30am on Wednesday, it lay at 180 kms south of Paradip, Odhisha and south-southwest of Digha, West Bengal.

Today, north coastal districts of Odisha will experience heavy rainfall whereas very heavy to extremely heavy rains will lash west Mednipore, south and north 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hoogli and Kolkata districts of West Bengal.

Gale winds with speeds ranging from 155 - 165km/hr is expected along east and west Mednipore, south and north 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hoogli, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Kendrapara from forenoon onwards today. 

Cyclone Amphan landfall LIVE updates: IMD identifies six Odisha districts as most vulnerable

On Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) identified six Odisha districts as most vulnerable. This list does not include Ganjam, but includes Jajpur, which has the second-highest number of cases in the state. These six districts have reported 461 Covid-19 cases so far.

Pradip Jena, Special Relief Commissioner, told The Indian Express that the administration swung into action when they heard of the cyclone on May 14. “This is a very difficult dual disaster situation. Once we got the cyclone warning, the first challenge before us was how do we manage this evacuation because out of 809 cyclone centres in these 12 affected districts, 242 are being used as quarantine centres,” Jena said.

Cyclone Amphan landfall LIVE Updates: IMD DG warns of extensive damage to buildings, uprooting of trees

Director General of India Meteorological Department M. Mohapatra warned that there will be extensive damage to buildings, and uprooting of trees and electric and communication lines. A tidal wave 4-6 metres above astronomical tide will lead to saline inundation and damage to crops.

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata asked people in the city to stay indoors and keep shops and other institutions shut on Wednesday. “After cyclone makes a landfall, the wind speed will increase from 110 km/hr to 120 km/hr,” said Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, the Deputy Director General of Meteorology at the Regional Meteorological Centre.

Intensity of cyclone Amphan increased rapidly in a span of 18 hours: Climate scientists

Climate scientists pointed out that the intensity of cyclone Amphan increased rapidly in a span of 18 hours. They have found the frequency as well as intensity of cyclones have increased due to climate change.

Assistant Professor of School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar, V Vinoj, said, “What most don’t realise is that during global warming, 90% of the heat that is released into the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean therefore increasing its temperature. It is this heat that leads to a cyclone being stronger and more intense. The storm surge and the extremely high levels of rainfall are also due to this. We have analysed and found that the temperatures of both the Arabian Sea as well as the Bay of Bengal have been rising, and this is why we have been seeing cyclones in the Arabian Sea as well, which is an unusual occurrence.’’