Cyclone Jawad likely to make landfall near Puri in Odisha on December 5

Published : Dec 03, 2021 20:59 IST

Boats anchored along the shore in Puri in view of Cyclone Jawad, on December 3.

Boats anchored along the shore in Puri in view of Cyclone Jawad, on December 3.

 

Government officials in the coastal districts of Odisha have been put on high alert as a deep depression over west-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, named Jawad, on December 3.

According to Metereological Department officials, the cyclonic storm is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on December 4 and make landfall near Puri around noon on December 5 with speeds ranging from 90 kmph to 100 kmph. Heavy rainfall is likely to occur in several districts from December 4.

Jawad is the third cyclone that Odisha is facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the State had to cope with Cyclone Amphan during the first wave in May 2020, Cyclone Yaas hit several districts in north Odisha during the second wave in May this year.

According to the Meteorological Centre at Bhubaneswar, the cyclonic storm lay centred about 420 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 530 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha) and 650 km south-southwest of Paradip (Odisha) around noon today.

According to a press release by the centre, Cyclone Jawad is likely to move north-westwards, intensify further and reach west-central Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh on the morning of December 4. Thereafter, the cyclonic storm is likely to recurve north-northeastwards and move along Odisha coast, reaching Puri around noon on December 5. Subsequently, it is likely to move north-northeastwards along coastal Odisha towards West Bengal coast.

The other districts apart from Puri that are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy falls on December 4 include Gajapati, Ganjam and Jagatsinghpur. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over the districts of Kendrapada, Cuttack, Khordha, Nayagarh, Kandhamal and Rayagada. The other districts that will receive heavy rainfall are Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur.

State Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena has asked the District Collectors of Ganjam, Khordha, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack to ensure compliance of COVID-19 protocols while evacuating people from low-lying areas.

The district administration of Puri has announced a cyclone emergency number for Puri district: 06752-223237. All schools in Puri district will remain closed on December 4.

The State government has said that all government employees will have to work on Sunday and asked them not to leave their headquarters. Those who were on leave have been asked to report for work.

The State has kept ready as many as 60 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel for relief and rescue operations. Besides, 17 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are also in readiness in the State.

It had started drizzling in several coastal districts of Odisha by Friday evening, prompting people to resort to panic buying of essential items despite the administration’s appeal to the people not to panic and not to hoard essential items. The administration has urged people to store drinking water for two days at home and not to go out of homes during the storm.

Farmers in the coastal districts were a worried lot since the ripe paddy crop in vast tracts in the region is not ready for harvest. In some areas, they were making a last-ditch effort to shift their harvested paddy to safer places. Horticultural crops are also likely to be hit by the unseasonal rains and the cyclone in more than 15 of the 30 districts of the State.

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