Cyclone Yaas weakens after pounding Odisha-Bengal coasts

Cyclone Yaas weakened into a severe cyclonic storm on Wednesday afternoon after pounding the beach towns in north Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal with a wind speed of 130-145 kmph, inundating the low-lying areas amid a storm surge, report agencies.

Yaas, which was earlier classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, hit the coast north of Dhamra in Odisha’s Bhadrak district and 50 km south of Balasore, close to Bahanaga block, around 9:00am.

The landfall process was over around 1:30pm. The wind will slow down by the evening and the cyclone is likely to leave Odisha for Jharkhand by midnight.

The landfall process of “very severe” cyclonic storm ‘Yaas’ in Bay of Bengal has completed and it has weakened into “severe cyclonic” storm, said India Meteorological Department (IMD).

“Cyclone Yaas has completed the process of landfall. Rainfall will continue till Thursday. Fishermen are advised not to venture till Thursday morning because the sea conditions are going to be rough,” said Umashankar Das, Senior Scientist, Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.

As per the IMD’s 1.30pm report, the cyclone is currently intensified near the centre and bringing in windspeeds of about 130-140 kmph gusting to 155 kmph.

Meanwhile, Odisha shifted 5.8 lakh people to safer places, while West Bengal moved 15 lakh people ahead of the cyclone.

Jharkhand, already on high alert state, continued evacuating low-lying areas amid the forecast that the cyclone would be hitting the state by midnight.

Three lakh houses were damaged due to the cyclone, she said. She claimed that West Bengal was the most affected state due to the cyclone.

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, a defence official said.