A total of 41 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in West Bengal and Odisha to deal with any emergency situation arising out of Super Cyclone Amphan, NDRF chief S N Pradhan said on Tuesday.
Earlier today, rains lashed some parts of Odisha and West Bengal as the storm moved closer to the coasts and is expected to make landfall in the afternoon of May 20 between Digha in Bengal and Hatia island in Bangladesh. Both Bengal and Odisha governments have stepped up efforts to evacuate low-lying and vulnerable areas.
As per the latest bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department, super cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’ (pronounced as Um-Pun) lay centred over the west-central Bay of Bengal, about 420 km south of Paradip (Odisha), 570 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal) and 700 km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh. It is likely to weaken into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, move north-northeastwards over the Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatia Islands during Wednesday afternoon or evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph and gusting to 185 kmph, the weather agency said.
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