Cyclone Yaas landfall in Odisha, Kolkata may see 90kmph winds, heavy rain

KOLKATA: Cyclone Yaas, which is bearing down on Bengal and Odisha from the Bay of Bengal, will make landfall near Balasore coast in Odisha — 240km from Kolkata — on May 26 noon with a thunderous wind speed of 155kmph-165kmph. While Bengal will avoid a direct hit, several of its districts falling within the core area of Yaas are likely to be severely aff-ected. These include East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia.Each of these districts is likely to receive heavy rain accompanied by very high wind speed. In East Midnapore, for instance, wind speed could touch 155kmph -165kmph, according to Met officials.
Kolkata, too, is expected to receive heavy rain from Tuesday night with wind speed touching 70kmph-80kmph gusting up to 90kmph.
Last year, on May 20, Amphan had hit the city with a maximum wind speed of 130kmph, the highest in more than a century, causing widespread damage and destruction. Thousands of trees had toppled, blocking roads and snapping cables, and electricity had remained cut off in extensive areas for more than a week.
“Kolkata being in the outer band of the cyclone could see a spell of heavy rain with wind speed of 70kmph -80kmph, gusting up to 90kmph. Light rain, which started from Monday afternoon, could continue till the cyclone hits land and get heavier occasionally. The city could receive the heaviest spell of rain between Tuesday night and Wednesday noon as the cyclone approaches Balasore coast and landfall happens,” RMC director G K Das said on Monday.
Explaining the impact on Bengal districts, Das said Yaas is likely to take a path very close to East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia as it heads towards Jharkhand through Odisha, almost touching Bengal at some points. “But this is the ‘forecast track’ of Yaas and this may alter by a substantial distance once landfall happens. So, Bengal may not be entirely safe either,” said a weather scientist.
Met officials, however, warned that some of the coastal districts, especially East Midnapore could be left inundated by storm surge.
At the time of landfall, East Midnapore is likely to experience a wind speed of 155kmph-165kmph. “We expect a storm surge of 2-4 metres in Digha. Other adjoining coastal areas, too, could be flooded,” said Das.
Till Sunday, Yaas was predicted to strike land around Wednesday evening between Paradeep and Sagar Island, with the latter more prone to taking the hit. But it is now expected to pick up speed as it nears the coastline and hit land near Balasore at least five-six hours earlier than predicted.
On Monday morning, Yaas moved north-northwestwards at a speed of just 2 km/ hr and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm through the day. It will transform into a very severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday, continue to move north-northwestwards, intensify further and reach northwest Bay of Bengal early on May 26. It is likely to hit land as a very severe cyclonic storm.
But dispelling fears about a repeat of Amphan, deputy director-general of meteorology Sanjib Bandopadhyay said that unlike Amphan last year, Yaas will hit Balasore, which is more than 200 km from Kolkata. “Amphan had hit South 24 Parganas and travelled through Kolkata. Yaas will hit our neighbouring state and won’t come near the city. So, the impact is bound to be much lesser,” said Bandopadhyay.