BHUBANESWAR: The very severe cyclonic storm Yaas hit the coast near Bahanaga coast between north of Dhamara and south of Balasore at 9 am on Wednesday.
The landfall has commenced and the process will continue for the next three hours, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The cyclone is crossing north Odisha coast to the south of Balasore. The maximum sustained wind speed associated with the cyclone during the time of landfall was about 130 kmph to 140 km/hr and gusting up to 150 km/hr, said IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.
The wind speed is expected to continue for next three hours and thereafter the system will turn into a cyclone and move towards the land. The wind speed will gradually decrease to about 60 kmph to 70 kmph by Thursday morning over southeast Jharkhand, adjoining areas of north Odisha and West Bengal.
Balasore and Bhadrak districts witnessed wind speed reaching 130 kmph to 140 kmph and gusting up to 150 kmph when the tropical storm hit the coast.
Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said the landfall process has begun, will take three to four hours to complete. Maximum impact will be in Balasore and Bhadrak districts, he said.
In Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts, the wind speed was relatively less. Over Keonjhar and adjoining districts in north interior Odisha, the wind speed could be 60 km/hr to 90 kmph as the cyclone will be moving north-westwards towards Jharkhand after the completion of the landfall, said Mohapatra.
Meanwhile, Balasore district administration has appealed people not to come out before 5 pm as the cyclone landfall process has not yet over. Though the wind speed has slowed down a bit, it will resume soon. Heavy wind and rain is expected in next to three hours, said an official statement.
Under the influence of the cyclone, heavy to extremely heavy rainfall occurred in coastal and northern districts of Odisha. Chandbali received the maximum rainfall of 288 mm in last 24 hours.
The State Government has evacuated over five lakh people from low lying and vulnerable areas in 10 coastal districts