Cyclone Amphan, set to make landfall on Wednesday, will be an ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’, top officials National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said on Tuesday.
The states of Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya are likely to be hit when the second super cyclone will make landfall.
The wind speed of the ‘most intense’ cyclone in the sea right now is 200-240 kmph, it is moving towards north northwestward direction, the IMD chief has said.
Here are the latest updates:
— 24 NDRF teams on standby
As Cyclone Amphan approaches, NDRF Director General SN Pradhan said that there are 24 teams on standby and every battalion that has been deployed has 4 teams.
— Amphan is second super cyclone formed in the Bay of Bengal after 1999
Cyclone Amphan intensified into a super cyclonic storm on Monday and is likely to move across the northeast Bay of Bengal, and cross the West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts between Digha and the Hatia Island on May 20.
Twenty-one years ago, in 1999, another super cyclonic storm had ravaged large parts of Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal. It took Odisha months to overcome the extensive damage that the Super Cyclone had caused back then.
— Bengal, Odisha prep for another Super Cyclone
Odisha is expected to face extensive damage in the storm that is likely to uproot communication and power poles. It could also disrupt rail and road links in many places in Bengal and Odisha and inflict extensive damage to standing crops, plantations and orchards, the IMD has said.
— Fresh alert for Bengal, Odisha
In a fresh alert for Odisha and West Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday morning said that it is likely to move towards West Bengal and weaken into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
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