Cyclonic storm Jawad advances towards coast 6 km per hour; to hit land on Sunday afternoon
Jawad is likely to change its course from December 4 evening and it will lay centered near Visakhapatnam. Subsequently, it is likely to reach near Puri in Odisha coast.
64 NDRF teams deployed to tackle the cyclone situation
Coastal Odisha, north AP and south of West Bengal likely to experience heavy rains
Fishermen advised not to venture into sea
SUDHIR RANJAN DASH IN PARADIP/ SURYA NARAYAN PANDA IN KORAPUT
DEC. 4: Cyclonic storm Jawad is advancing towards the coast at 6 km per hour. On Saturday morning, it lay centred at 250 from Visakhapatnam and 430 km from Paradip
Jawad is likely to hit Odisha coast on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal had intensified into a cyclonic storm on Friday morning and started moving in the north-west direction gradually with a speed of 60 to 70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) director general Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said Jawad is likely to change its course from December 4 evening and it will lay centered near Visakhapatnam. Subsequently, it is likely to reach near Puri in Odisha coast.
“The cyclonic storm will be very close to the coast near Puri and will move along the Odisha coast. After touching the coast, it will start weakening and move towards West Bengal,” said Mohapatra.
The IMD DG further said that several parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh will start experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall from December 3 onwards. The intensity of rainfall is likely to increase from December 4.
All the coastal districts in Odisha including Ganjam, Gajapti, Puri, Bhadrak, Balasore and the Twin Cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will also experience heavy rainfall activities. Though intensity will decrease on December 5, several parts of Odisha will experience heavy to isolated heavy rainfall, the IMD said in its bulletin.
In view of the impending sea storm, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Friday earmarked 64 teams to tackle the possible situations in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
NDRF Director General (DG) Atul Karwal told reporters in Delhi that as many as 46 teams were deployed or pre-positioned in the vulnerable states while 18 teams were kept in reserve.
A single NDRF team has about 30 personnel who are equipped with pole cutters, electric saws to cut uprooted trees, inflatable boat and some other relief and rescue gadgets.
“We are confident of taking care of the situation,” Karwal said, adding all preparations had been put in place by the federal contingency force to help the affected states and the citizens.
The NDRF head said the national crisis management committee (NCMC), a panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officers, has already reviewed the situation and these will continue till the cyclone hits the coast on December 5 in Odisha.
The India Meteorological Department said on Friday that a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm ‘Jawad’,
The cyclonic storm is likely to reach the west-central Bay of Bengal off the coast of north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha by Saturday morning, the IMD said.
The state government advised the fishermen to not venture into the sea. It also requested the people in coastal districts to store drinking water for two days as electricity supply is likely to be disrupted.
“We have sufficient stock of essential items. We urge people to not go for panic buying,” the SRC said.
