Cyclone ‘Dana’: Extremely Heavy Rain, Gale@120kmph & Storm Surge Warnings For Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Heavy rainfall is likely to commence in Odisha with Cyclone ‘Dana’ taking shape over Eastcentral Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Wednesday.

Yellow warning has been issued for Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Puri, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj on October 23 with the cyclonic storm about 560 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha, 630 km south-southeast of Sagar Island (West Bengal) and 630 km south-southeast of Khepupara (Bangladesh).

The intensity of rain is likely to increase during the subsequent 2 days as the system is expected to move northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over Northwest Bay of Bengal in the early hours of October 24 and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island during the night and early next morning as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph.

Storm surge of 1.0 to 2.0 m height above astronomical tide is also likely to inundate low-lying areas of Kendrapada, Bhadrak and Balasore districts during the time of landfall.

OCTOBER 24

Red warning (Take Action)

Scattered heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) with isolated extremely heavy rainfall (>20cm) falls may occur in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Balasore, and Mayurbhanj districts.

Orange warning (Be Prepared to take action)

Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) is likely at isolated places in Puri, Khurda, Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Dhenkanal.

Yellow Warning (Be Aware)

Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) may also occur at isolated places in Ganjam, Boudh, Angul, Deogarh, Sundargarh and Kandhamal.

OCTOBER 25

Red warning (Take Action)

Scattered heavy to very heavy falls (7 to 20cm) with isolated extremely heavy rainfall (>20cm) may occur at isolated places in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore nd Bhadrak districts.

Orange warning (Be Prepared to take action)

Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) is likely at isolated places in Jajpur, Kendrapada, Dhenkanal, Angul, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur.

Yellow Warning (Be Aware)

Heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) may also occur at isolated places in Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Khurda, Jharsuguda and Puri.

Heavy rainfall may continue at isolated places in Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Balasore on October 26, according to the weather agency.

The MeT office has also warned of squally wind speed reaching 40-50 gusting to 60 kmph along and off Odisha coasts from October 23 evening. It would gradually increase becoming gale wind speed reaching 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph from October 24 morning and reaching 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph from October 24 night till October 25 morning and decrease gradually thereafter.

Port Warning

Replace Distant Cautionary Signal No.1 (DC-1) by Distant Warning Signal No-2 (DW-2) at all ports of Odisha.

Expected Impact (Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal)

>> Major damage to thatched houses/ huts.

>> Roof tops may blow off. Unattached metal sheets may fly.

>> Minor damage to power and communication lines.

>> Major damage to Kutcha and some damage to Pucca roads.

>> Flooding of escape routes.

>> Possibilities of damage to vulnerable structure.

>> Breaking of tree branches and uprooting of trees.

>> Moderate damage to banana and papaya trees.

>> Large dead limbs blown from trees.

>> Damage to horticulture and standing crops in some areas due to inundation and wind.

>> Damage to embankments/ salt pans.

>> Localised flooding of roads, water logging in low-lying areas and closure of underpasses mainly in urban areas.

>> Occasional reduction in visibility due to heavy rainfall.

>> Disruption of traffic in major cities and roadways due to water logging in roads and poor visibility due to heavy rain leading to increased travel time and incidents

>> Localized landslides/mudslides/landslips/mud slips/land sinks/mud sinks.

>> Likely disruption of marine and inland water transportation like small boats and trawlers. It may lead to riverine flooding in some river catchments.