New Delhi: Heavy rains continued to batter the Odisha coast on Friday morning as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed that the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm Dana was complete on the Odisha coast. It has weakened to become a cyclonic storm. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams have commenced restoration work, clearing uprooted trees from roads in the coastal districts of the state.
Speaking to reporters, Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi said: “Cyclone Dana made landfall on the night of 24 and 25 October, between the Bhitarkanika and Dhamra coasts. This process continued until 7am today. Thanks to vigilant administration and preparedness, there have been no casualties.” He added that approximately six lakh people were relocated to safer locations, and 6,000 pregnant women were moved to health centres.
Majhi, while assessing the post-cyclone Dana situation in the state, stated that electricity services are expected to be fully restored by 6pm in the affected areas. Road-clearing operations are similarly expected to be completed by 1pm in the affected areas, allowing transportation to resume smoothly.
Operations resume at Bhubaneswar airport
With an improvement in weather conditions, operations at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar resumed at 8am. Flight services had been suspended from 5pm on Thursday in light of Cyclone Dana’s landfall.
On Thursday night, Cyclone Dana made landfall between the Bhitarkanika and Dhamra coasts in Odisha, with wind speeds reaching up to 120 km/h. The IMD has since indicated that the severe cyclonic storm will gradually weaken on Friday as it moves further inland, triggering heavy rain in most areas.
The weather agency has also forecast light-to-moderate rainfall in most areas, with heavy-to-very heavy rainfall in some locations and extremely heavy rainfall (over 21cm) at isolated places in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Khurda, and Puri districts until 25 October.
Partial train services resume
According to a report from The Times of India, aside from previously notified train cancellations, other trains will run as scheduled. Down trains from the south (Visakhapatnam side) towards Bhubaneswar and Howrah are now operational. Up trains from the Kharagpur side towards Visakhapatnam will arrive at Bhadrak Station at approximately 14:00 hours. The first scheduled train is the 12245 Howrah-Bangalore Duronto Express. Trains originating from Bhubaneswar and Puri will resume operations after 12:00 hours today, excluding the previously cancelled trains.
Chandabali in Bhadrak recorded the highest rainfall of 131.6 mm over the past six hours, followed by 42.8 mm in Balasore. The coastal districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore, and nearby Jagatsinghpur also experienced a sudden increase in wind speed, reaching between 100 km/h and 110 km/h, along with extremely heavy rainfall during the landfall process.
Heavy rains in south Bengal
Meanwhile, heavy rains also lashed south Bengal on Friday morning, with the state capital, Kolkata, receiving light showers. According to the latest IMD bulletin, the severe cyclonic storm was centred over northern coastal Odisha, near the north-northwest of Dhamra and north-northwest of Habalikhati nature camp (Bhitarkanika).
Reports of waterlogging have emerged from various areas, including Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas. The state government has evacuated over 2.5 lakh people as a precaution. Additionally, the Kolkata Port authorities have halted ship movements until Friday evening as a safety measure.
