Cyclone Bulbul gathers intensity, likely to make landfall between West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts in early hours of 10 Nov

Kolkata: Cyclone ‘Bulbul’, which has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm, is likely to make landfall between West Bengal and Bangladesh in the early hours of Sunday, bringing in its wake heavy rain and gusts of up to 135 kilometres per hour in the coastal areas, the Met department said. The storm might cause damage to kutcha houses, power and communication lines and roads in parts of the state, Regional Met Director GK Das said, advising people in vulnerable areas to stay indoors. It might also uproot trees, ruin crops and cause embankment erosion, he warned. [caption id=“attachment_7031101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] According to Das, Kolkata was expected to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall with gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour on 9 and 10 November. The weatherman said the severe cyclonic storm, which lay centred 600 kilometres south of Kolkata on Friday morning, was expected to intensify further by Saturday and move northwards. “Thereafter, it is very likely to re-curve northeastwards and make landfall between Sagar Islands of West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh across Sunderban delta during the early hours of 10 November,” Das said. During landfall, ‘Bulbul’ is “very likely” to be in the ‘severe cyclonic storm’ category with maximum sustained wind speed of 110 to 120 kilometres per hour, gusting up to 135kilometres per hour, the regional Met director said. The weatherman has asked the Bengal administration to suspend fishing activities and ferry boat service on 9 and 10 November in Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East and West Midnapore districts. It suggested that coastal hutment dwellers be moved to safer places. The Met also asked tourists in seaside resort towns along the West Bengal coast not to indulge in any water-based activity from the evening of 8 November. According to the IMD, light to moderate rain was likely at many places over the coastal districts of West Bengal on Friday, with heavy rain at one or two areas. The intensity of showers is very likely to increase on 9 November with heavy to very heavy rain at a few places and extremely heavy rain at one or two places in North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly. The weatherman said that gale wind speed reaching 120 to 130 kilometres per hour and gusting to 140 kilometres per hour was prevailing over west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal. “The windspeed is very likely to increase gradually to 145 to 155 kilometres per hour, with gusts of up to 170 kilometres per hour by early hours of 9 November,” Das said. The coastal areas of the state were likely to be hit by 110 to 120 kilometres per hour gale wind, with gusts up to 135 kilometres per hour from 9 November afternoon, the IMD prediction said Sea condition was expected to hover between very rough and phenomenal during this period, it added.