Cyclone Jawad Inches Closer To Odisha; No Clarity Yet On Crossing The Coast, Says SRC

Bhubaneswar: Cyclone Jawad has moved at a speed of 22 kmph in the last 6 hours and centred 470 km from Gopalpur and 580 km from Paradip, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said on Friday.

“It will re-curve and approach Puri coast by Sunday noon. However, there is no clarity on whether the system will cross the coast. Even if it touches the coast, it is likely to re-enter the sea and move towards West Bengal. Wind speed will be around 80-95 kmph as it nears the coast,” he said.

The velocity of the wind will come down to around 60-65 kmph by Sunday midnight, he added.

Under its influence, several places have started to experience steady drizzles. “The intensity of rain in South Odisha districts will increase from midnight. Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri and Jagatsinghpur are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall tomorrow,” he said.

Moderate to heavy rainfall is also likely in other coastal districts during this period, he added.

The IMD had earlier said that the system is likely to move north-northwestwards, intensify further and reach west-central Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts by Saturday morning. Thereafter, it is likely to recurve north-northeastwards and move along Odisha coast reaching Puri around Sunday noon. It is then likely to continue to move north-northeastwards along coastal Odisha towards West Bengal.

Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places with isolated extremely heavy falls (more than 20 cm) in Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, and Jagatsinghpur between 8.30 am of December 4 and 8.30 am of December 5.