Bhubaneswar: As many as 16 districts of Odisha are likely to face flash floods as Severe Cyclone ‘Dana’ heads towards coastal areas of the state.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in a weather update on Thursday evening, said low to moderate flash flood is likely in watershed areas and its neghbourhood of the state in next 24 hours.
The districts which will experience the flash floods include Angul, Balasore, Boudh, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur,Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Puri.
The weather forecaster said runoff/inundation may occur in some fully saturated soils and low-lying areas due to rainfall in the next 24 hours.
The IMD has forecast that the severe cyclone was heading towards Odisha coast and may make landfall between midnight of Thursday and Friday morning. The landfall may occur between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapada and Dhamra in Bhadrak district.
The cyclone Dana is likely to cross the Odisha coast with a wind speed gusting upto 120 km per hour.