Cyclone Yaas, which is expected to land between Northern Odisha and Sundarbans in West Bengal on 26 May, is being developed along India’s eastern shore. The same happens days after a barge off Mumbai caused havoc by Cyclone Tauktae — the most strong in the Arab sea in more than two decades — in the west, killing dozens of people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a Sunday meeting on the preparations for the approaching cyclone with top government officials and representatives of the NDMA, the ministries of telecommunications, electricity, civil aviation and earth science, news agency ANI has announced. The meetings will also be attended by Home Ministers Amit Shah and other ministers.
The State Government, following Cyclone Yaas, pushed to office a 22-member Odisha Disaster Fast Action Force (ODRAF). Necessary goods are requested to be stored and people transferred to local wind farms.
This is the most recent development on Cyclone Yaas before its Landfall:
- The modern equipment has entered the Paradip Coastal District in order to protect the trees and clear road blocks, according to the Mohapatra. He has also said that the district has storm shelters.
- Spring tide, which coincides with the full moon, is another area of concern for officials. On May 26, that too will fall. “The sea and estuary water is higher than normal during the spring tide and tides are much higher. The storm surges would be much more severe and destructive if the time frames were to match Cyclone Yaas,” said Tuhin Ghosh, Director of the School of Oceanographic Studies at the University of Jadavpur.
- Saturday, the Indian Army stated that columns and engineering teams are ready to rescue and relief operations. In Odisha, the military has arranged two columns and two task forces of engineers, and in West Bengal, eight columns and one engineer. Four warships have also been retained by the Navy and some planes.
- Northern Railway has cancelled over a dozen trains from the national capital to and from Bhubaneshwar and Puri in Odisha.
- On Saturday the NCMC meeting was held to review the preparations for the cyclonic storm, led by Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba. The country’s top bureaucrat instructed different agencies to ensure the security of patients and oxygen-producing hospitals Covid-19.
- West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee met high-level officials from the coastal and riverine territories in the State Secretariat at Saturday’s conference.
- In order to track the situation, the government of Bengal has established a control room which will operate 24 hours a day. The Chief Minister said she would remain in a control room.
- In Odisha, CEO Naveen Patnaik directed the officers to make sure that the infection did not spread because cyclone shelters crowded. The chief secretary was also appointed to track cyclone preparedness periodically and to advise the district government accordingly.
- According to Indian Meteorological Department Cyclone Jas would probably intensify into the “very strong storm” and cross the coast of Odisha and West Bengal on May 26. (IMD). The IMD Director, GK Die, stated that Amphan, which hit the east shore of India last year, is unlikely to match its strength.
- It has added that wind speeds will most likely exceed 90 to 100 km per hour, from and outside West Bengals on or off the coast of Odisha and Bangladesh to 110 km/h from May 26.
