New Delhi:
Cyclone ‘Amphan’ intensified into a super cyclonic storm on Monday and is likely to move across the northeast Bay of Bengal, and cross the West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts between Digha and the Hatia island on May 20, the IMD said.
“Amphan” (pronounced UM-PN) had turned into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and gathered more strength over the Bay of Bengal while moving slowly towards the coast. It has now intensified further into a super cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review the response preparedness against cyclone Amphan, developing in the Bay of Bengal.
The prime minister took full stock of the situation and reviewed the measures as well as the evacuation plan presented by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.
During a presentation on the response plan, the NDRF director general informed that 25 NDRF teams have been deployed on the ground, while 12 others are ready in reserve.
Twenty-four other NDRF teams are also on standby in different parts of the country, the force chief told the meeting, the statement said.
It is likely to move north-northeastwards and fast across the northwest Bay of Bengal, and cross the West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts between Digha and the Hatia island as a very severe cyclonic storm, the department said.This has raised the likelihood of heavy rains and high-velocity winds in coastal Odisha and the state government has initiated the process of evacuating people from the vulnerable areas. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea till May 21, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said.
“During the past two centuries, 42% of the Earth’s tropical cyclone-associated deaths have occurred in Bangladesh and 27% have occurred in India,” said Weather.com.
“The deadliest storm in world history, the 1970 Bhola Cyclone of 1970, killed an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 when it made landfall in Bangladesh on Nov. 12, bringing a storm surge estimated at up to 10.4 meters (34 feet) to the coast.”
Weather.com is a sister company of Weather Underground, both of which are subsidiaries of IBM.