Cyclone Yaas updates: Jharkhand remains on high alert, over 10,000 people evacuated

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Jharkhand remains on high alert, over 10,000 people evacuated

Jharkhand remains on high alert and has evacuated over 10,000 people to safer zones while operation is still on amid forecast that cyclone ‘Yaas’ would be hitting the state by midnight after pounding neighbouring Odisha and West Bengal, officials said Wednesday. The state has imposed complete lockdown in some parts to prevent people from venturing out in view of prediction of severe cyclonic storm battering the state.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Rescue, clearing ops underway in cyclone Yaas-hit Odisha, West Bengal: NDRF

Rescue operations are underway in Odisha and West Bengal and teams are clearing a large number of uprooted electric poles and trees to keep roads open in these states which were hit by cyclone Yaas on Wednesday, a National Disaster Response Force official said. The cyclone completed its landfall around noon packing strong winds and heavy rainfall along the Odisha coast and neighbouring areas of West Bengal.

“It (Yaas) is very likely to move north-westwards across interior Odisha and weaken gradually,” a spokesperson for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Over 20 lakh evacuated; four dead

Cyclone ‘Yaas’, packing winds of up to 130-145 kmph, whiplashed the country’s eastern coasts on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain, damaging houses and farmlands, and leaving at least four persons dead three in Odisha and one in Bengal — officials said.Thick sheets of rain blurred the vast coastline, as
the cyclone made landfall around 9 am near Dhamra port in Odisha, with surging waters swamping the mud-and-thatch houses in the low-lying areas, where a massive evacuation drive has been undertaken to move more than 20 lakh people to safety.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Tidal water flows into Haldia dock

The cyclone Yaas has put the Kolkata port authorities on tenterhooks for some time as the rising water of the Hooghly river surpassed the height of the external lock gate of its Haldia Dock System, leading the draught level to go up to around eight metres on Wednesday, an official told PTI. 

However, water entered into the lock barrel  the area between external and internal lock gates  for not more than 30 minutes and no damage was done to ships or assets of the Haldia Dock system in Purba Medinipur district, port chairman Vinit Kumar said.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Villages in coastal West Bengal bear brunt of cyclonic storm

In South 24 Parganas district, all river dams were overflowing in Namkhana block, inundating villages. People were rushed to the evacuation shelters but 

villagers were worried about their homes, belongings and cattle. In Sumati Nagar, Muriganga 2, Gangasagar, Dhabalat Chitpur gram panchayat, of Sagar block,  river dams have broken and water is entering the village, according to Paschimbanga Khetmajoor Samity (PBKMS), an independent trade union in West Bengal.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Restoration work being done on war footing in Odisha, say officials 

As per the latest reports, authorities in Odisha have already evacuated more than 1.05 lakh people. Roads are being cleared continuously as a large number of trees have been uprooted in the states. 

Cyclonic storm to hit Jharkhand by midnight, say weather experts

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Severe cyclonic storm to weaken over next two hours, says IMD

Cyclone Yaas, which made landfall at Odisha coast at 9 am as a very severe cyclonic storm, weakened into a cyclonic storm of a severe grade around noon after causing much destruction in coastal Odisha and West Bengal. It will further weaken into a cyclonic storm around 7 pm, as per IMD’s latest bulletin

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Yaas pounds West Bengal, Mamata claims state worst hit by cyclone

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that West Bengal was the most affected state due to the cyclone. “At least one crore people in Bengal have been

affected by this natural disaster. As of now, three lakh houses have been damaged. One person died an accidental death even after he was rescued,” the chief minister said. Relief materials worth Rs 10 crore were sent to the affected areas, she said. 

The resort town of Digha in East Midnapore, which shares a border with Balasore district of Odisha, was completely inundated with the Army being called in for rescue operations. The nearby beach resorts of Mandarmani, Tajpur and Shankarpur were also flooded with seawaters entering the hotels and flooding the roads, besides causing damage to kutcha shops and houses. In certain areas, the waves even went past the top of coconut trees that line these popular beaches.

In South 24 Parganas, many places, including Kakdwip, Fraserganj, Gosaba and Maipith in the Sunderbans region were flooded, displacing lakhs of villagers as thousands of kutcha houses were extensively damaged in the surging water and gale wind, officials said. Several rivers in the riverine delta region were in

spate owing to the phenomenal rise in water level caused by the dual effect of storm surge from the cyclone and the astronomical tide due to the full moon, they said. 

Flooding was also reported from Sagar island at the confluence of Hooghly and Bay of Bengal. The water level rose to nearly five feet in front of the famed Kapil Muni temple near the beach on the island, officials said.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Cyclone Yaas to weaken into cyclonic storm in next three hours: IMD

Cyclone Yaas Updates

NDRF rescues a baby from floods in South 24 Parganas district

Cyclone Yaas Updates

NDRF rescues 10 in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur after boat capsizes in river

The NDRF, together with the district administration of Jagatsinghpur in Odisha, has rescued 10 people from a river after their boat capsized, amid rough weather conditions under the influence of cyclone ‘Yaas’. In a video tweeted by the Jagatsinghpur district collector, rescue personnel on Tuesday night can be seen holding on to an inflatable boat as people disembarked.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

High alert in Jharkhand

Jharkhand has been put on high alert as the state faces its worst cyclonic storm in history. East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsawan

districts of the state are likely to witness “very high seas” situation with wind speed of 92-117 kmph, the weather office said. 

The districts of Sahibganj, Godda, Pakur, Garhwa and Palamu may witness “very rough seas” condition with a wind speed of 52-61 kmph. Rest of the state is likely to have “high to very high seas” phenomenon with a wind speed of 62-91 kmph, it said.

The Disaster Management Department has alerted authorities to take immediate action as cities such as Ranchi are likely to be flooded due to heavy rainfall. 

Cyclone Yaas pounded the beach towns in north Odisha and West Bengal as it hit the coast around 9 am with a wind speed of 130-140 kmph, inundating the  low-lying areas amid a storm surge, officials said. It is likely to move to Jharkhand with a lesser intensity by midnight, they said.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Mumbai airport cancels six flights

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has cancelled six flights between Mumbai to Bhubaneswar and Kolkata due to Cyclone Yaas.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Watch: Visuals of Cyclone Yaas making landfall in Odisha’s Balasore

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Mamata Banerjee holds review meet

West Bengal chief minister held a review meeting with district authorities and disaster management teams to take stock of the situation in the state. There were also reports that she will visit the impacted areas on Friday. 

Cyclone Yaas Updates

One dead in East Midnapore

One person has died to the cyclone in Ramnagar 2 block of East Midnapore in West Bengal, News18 reported. The deceased was a youth who had moved to a cyclone shelter in the locality. He had come out of the shelter when the storm hit and he was drowned.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Landfall process of Cyclone Yaas complete, says official

News9 has quoted Umashankar Das, an official at the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar as saying, “Cyclone Yaas has completed the process of landfall. Rainfall is likely to continue till Thursday morning and sea conditions are also going to be rough. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the seas till tomorrow.”

Cyclone Yaas Updates

‘Yaas’ weakens into severe cyclonic storm: IMD

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Fishing boats damaged at Paradeep jetty

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Six flights cancelled at Mumbai airport

The Mumbai airport has said as many as six flights, including three departures, have been cancelled in view of cyclone Yaas in the Bay of Bengal, News18 reported. In light of the developments around Cyclone Yaas in the Bay of Bengal, the airport witnessed cancellation of flights between Mumbai to Kolkata and Bhubaneswar, CSMIA said. Approximately six flights, three arrivals and departures each, have been cancelled so far, it said.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Strong winds in Ranchi

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Jharkhand begins evacuating people from low-lying areas

The Jharkhand government is evacuating low-lying areas on Wednesday amid the forecast that cyclone Yaas would be hitting the state by midnight after pounding neighbouring Odisha and West Bengal, officials told PTI.

Operations are being executed on war-footing in the vulnerable areas in East and West Singhbhum, besides some other districts, in view of the very severe cyclonic storm Yaas, Disaster Management Secretary Amitabh Kaushal said.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

11.5 lakh evacuated in Bengal; over 2 lakh evacuated in Odisha

Over 11.5 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable places in West Bengal, while over 2 lakh people have been moved to safety in Odisha, NDTV reported.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Cyclone inundates parts of Purba Medinipur; cars seen floating in flood water

Rising river water levels due to the landfall of cyclone ‘Yaas’ have inundated large parts of West Bengal’s coastal districts of Purba Medinipur and South 24 Parganas on Wednesday, as sea waves were seen touching coconut tree-tops and cars floating in floodwaters.

The seaside towns of Digha and Mandarmoni in Purba Medinipur and Fraserganj and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas were among the areas affected by a storm surge of more than 2 metres above the astronomical tide level.

PTI

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Coastal areas in East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas inundated

In West Bengal, the coastal areas in East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas were inundated owing to storm surge, officials in Kolkata said.

Several embankments, including 51 in East Midnapore, have been breached as the water level in the rivers in the coastal areas rose, they said.

The maximum wind speed in the coastal resort town of Digha in East Midnapore reached around 90 km per hour. It was 68 kmph at Fraserganj in South 24 Parganas, and in Kolkata, the highest wind speed was recorded at 62 kmph.

Several low-lying areas in South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore were inundated owing to high tidal waves.

PTI

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Wind speeds of 130-140 kms reported

Though IMD had earlier Tuesday forecast that the wind speed during landfall would be around 155 to 165 kmph to gusting 185 kmph, the Doppler RADAR data now indicates the wind speed to be 130-140 kmph gusting to 155 kmph.

PTI

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Army conducts joint recce with West Bengal govt

ANI has quoted an Indian Army statement as saying, “To provide immediate support to people in emerging situation due to Cyclone Yaas, briefing, joint recce, liaison & coordination with West Bengal govt has been completed. Rescue and Relief columns are pre-positioned across areas expected to be affected for immediate response.”

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Flooding reported in Bhadrak district

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Heavy rains expected in Assam, Meghalaya

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati has predicted heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya on account of Cyclone Yaas, The Indian Express has reported.

Cyclone Yaas Updates

Cyclone Yaas makes landfall in Odisha

According to an official statement, the landfall process for Cyclone Yaas started at about 9 am between north of Dhamra and south of Balasore close around Bahanaga block coast. The process will take  3-4 hours to complete. The maximum impact will be in Balasore and Bhadrak

Cyclone Yaas Updates

IMD issues red-coded warning to Odisha, Bengal

The IMD has issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts in view of Cyclone Yaas, PTI reported.