Coastal Odisha was struck by strong winds and heavy rainfall as Cyclone Dana made landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra after midnight on Thursday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The cyclone touched down at around 12:10 am between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak district.
IMD Bhubaneswar’s regional director, Manorama Mohanty, stated that the landfall process would continue until Friday morning, after which the cyclone would weaken and change course towards Dhenkanal and Angul districts rather than Keonjhar.
As the cyclone’s center reaches land, wind speeds are expected to rise to 120 kmph, with the landfall process lasting four to five hours. The system is being closely monitored by the Doppler weather radar in Paradip.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi mentioned that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had inquired about the state’s preparedness for the cyclone. Majhi also noted that around 5.84 lakh people had been evacuated from high-risk, low-lying coastal areas.
The state government had initially planned to evacuate one million people but revised this number after realizing that Cyclone Dana would be weaker than initially anticipated. The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20 cm), with isolated extremely heavy rainfall (over 20 cm) in the districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Balasore, and Mayurbhanj.
From Friday morning to Saturday morning, similar conditions are expected in isolated areas of Jajpur, Bhadrak, Puri, Dhenkanal, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, and Angul, according to an IMD official.
Team Profile
- Freelance Journalist
- Aryan Gulati is a dedicated media student based in Meerut with a wealth of experience in various newspapers and media houses. He has numerous published articles and specializes in political and crime news writing, demonstrating a strong commitment to impactful journalism.
Latest entries
