Cyclone Fani To Make Landfall Earlier Than Expected, By Forenoon Tomorrow: IMD

Bhubaneswar: Severe cyclonic storm Fani will make landfall near the Puri coast during forenoon on Friday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a special bulletin on Thursday.

An earlier alert had said landfall would take place in the evening. The new update said the cyclonic storm will make landfall between 8 am and 10 am and continue till 12 pm with a maximum sustained wind speed to 170-180kmph, and gusting to 200kmph.

Briefing mediapersons here, director of the Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, H.R. Biswas said though the exact location of landfall is yet to be determined, it is certain that it will happen near the Puri coast.

He further said gale winds of 130-140kmph and gusting up to 150kmph are likely over the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara; 90-100kmph with gusting up to 115kmph over Gajapati, Khurda (including Bhubaneswar city), Cuttack (including Cuttack city), Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore; 60-70kmph with gusting up to 80kmph over the districts of Nayagarh, Angul, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Dhenkanal; and strong  gusty  surface  wind speed of 30-40kmph over the remaining Odisha by evening on May 3 for subsequent 12 hours. The wind speed will gradually decrease thereafter.