The coastal area of Odisha was hit by strong winds and heavy rainfall as Cyclone Dana completed its landfall. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone made landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra around 12:10 AM and the process continued till Friday morning. Flash flood warnings have been issued in 16 districts in the region.
Cyclone Dana Completes Landfall, To Gradually Weaken
Cyclone Dana completed its landfall in coastal Odisha on Friday morning. The cyclone landed between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak district. According to Hindustan Times, IMD has predicted that the cyclone would weaken and recurve towards Dhenkanal and Angul districts instead of Keonjhar now. The cyclone is expected to bring strong winds with speeds as high as 120 kmph along with heavy rainfall in the region.
In its latest update, IMD forecasted flash floods in 16 districts of Odisha amidst heavy rainfall. They have issued flash flood warnings in these areas. These areas are Angul, Balasore, Boudh, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, and Puri.
Several areas in Kolkata were affected by heavy rains as well. Seeing the flood-like situation, all pumping stations have been alerted and Kolkata Municipal Corporation has set up suction machines to clear all pits and manholes.
In some good news, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that the state has achieved its ‘Zero Casualty Mission’. Thankfully, the rescue teams were able to timely evacuate lakhs of people and no no report regarding any loss of human life or injury due to the severe cyclonic storm has been reported so far.
Also Read: Cyclone Dana: Over 300 Scheduled Trains Cancelled In View Of The Cyclonic Storm; Details Inside
Airports In Odisha & West Bengal Resume Operations
Despite the heavy rainfall in Odisha and West Bengal due to Cyclone Dana, airports in both states resumed operations. As per reports, Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and Odisha’s Biju International Airport resumed flight operations after the authorities noted a slight improvement in weather conditions.
All operations were suspended in these airports on Thursday as precautionary measures. Now, as of 8 AM on Friday, the airports are back to normal operations.
We hope the situation in both the states improves soon.
Cover Image Courtesy: X/AbhijitRajINC & X/@Akkisehra
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