The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday night said Cyclone Asani is likely to strengthen into a ‘severe cyclone’ over the southeastern Bay of Bengal in the next six hours.
In a bulletin, the weather department warned that Asani was likely to move northwest and strengthen into a “severe cyclone” within the next six hours.
The weather department bulletin said, “Typonic cyclone ‘Asani’ over the Southeast Bay of Bengal has moved close to the northwest at 14 km/h over the past 6 hours, strengthening into a typhoon. severe and centered vortex at 1730 IST of today, 8 May, across the Southeast and adjacent to the Bay of Bengal East of Central, near latitude 12.2°N and longitude 88.2°E , about 610 km northwest of Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands), 500 km west of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 810 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 880 km south- Southeast of Puri (Odisha).”
Cyclone ‘Asani’ strengthened into a severe cyclone at 5:30 p.m. IST today, May 8, over Southeast BoB, approximately 610 km northwest of Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands) . off North Andhra Pradesh and the coast of Odisha pic.twitter.com/UZK31fLcxJ
– Bureau of Meteorology (@Indiametdept) May 8, 2022
Asani is expected to strengthen into a severe cyclonic storm on Sunday evening while it remains above the Bay of Bengal, about 920 kilometers from Puri. Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena on Sunday said the system would be closest to the coast between Ganjam and Puri in the form of a cyclone on May 11.
“As it will recur and move parallel to the Odisha coast from Puri (onward), the system will weaken to a deep depression on May 12,” he said. However, May 11 will remain critical in terms of moderate to heavy rainfall and high speed winds ranging from 50 to 60 km/h, in the coastal and surrounding districts. Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts will see rainfall from May 10 to 12.
ODISHA PREPARATION FOR CYCLONE
Jena added that teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) were stationed at Puri, Satpada, Astaranga, Krushnaprasad, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Mahakalpara, Rajnagar and Ganjam. A full unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is in Balasore. The fire agency’s director-general (DG) has directed teams in all districts to be alert and ready to act in the event of any situation.
All county collectors and city commissioners in Odisha are authorized to issue evacuation calls when necessary. Particular focus is on low-lying areas and other vulnerable areas, where evacuation arrangements have been made if necessary. City teams have also been instructed to perform dewatering in the event of inundation and artificial flooding.
All boats operating at sea returned on Sunday afternoon. The government will stop traveling by boat in Chilika from Monday, until the storm passes.
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