Cyclone Yaas

The landfall process of Cyclone Yass started around 9 am on Wednesday between Dhamra and Balasore in Odisha. cyclone yaas already had caused two deaths and damaged homes as heavy rains pounded Odisha and West Bengal states before the storm began making landfall in the late morning.

The Met office here has warned that there could be heavy rainfall in parts of West Assam and Meghalaya on Wednesday under the impact of cyclone yaas in the Bay of Bengal.

The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Wednesday said as many as six flights, including three departures, have been cancelled in view of cyclone yaas in the Bay of Bengal.

Southwest monsoon, which was earlier expected to arrive in Karnataka in the first week of June, is now likely to set in at least four days early.

The 32-hour incessant rain and stormy wind in the wake of cyclone yaas have broken the backbone of farmers of this panchayat in the Falka block of Katihar district. Farmers of Purnia and Araria are also hit as their cash crops like maize and jute have been destroyed due to waterlogging in farmland.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a review meeting with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other officials of the state administrations to assess the impact of cyclone yaas. The Prime Minister reached Odisha's Bhubaneswar earlier in the day.

Apart from playing a key role in evacuating people to safety in view of cyclone yaas, the Odisha police have also ensured smooth transport of medical oxygen to Covid-hit states during the calamity. Instructions have been given to the superintendents of police (SPs) of the districts, especially Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj to make necessary arrangements.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) director general Satya Narayan Pradhan, who is from Odisha, speaks to Debabrata Mohapatra on cyclone yaas preparedness and challenges.

Flight operations at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport is likely to be impacted due to cyclone yaas. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has put several airports in the eastern region, including Patna, on alert.

A central team headed by a joint secretary of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) will visit West Bengal to assess the damage caused by cyclone yaas, officials said on Sunday.

Unlike Cyclone Tauktae, which led to the highest-ever rainfall recorded on a day in May, cyclone yaas will not have much impact on Delhi and will provide only a slight relief from the soaring mercury.

Officials at Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati, on Sunday said cyclone yaas, a “very severe cyclonic storm”, will not enter Assam or the northeast.

A team of ham radio operators of the West Bengal Radio Club (Amateur Club) has been involved by the South 24 Parganas district administration's disaster management section to assist the district administration in relief and rescue work.

cyclone yaas may have weakened but the impact of its remnant is not over yet for Bihar as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued forecast on Saturday evening that fairly widespread rainfall is likely along with isolated thunderstorm, lightning and gusty wind in the state on Sunday as well.

Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said the Centre is ready to extend all cooperation to Odisha to tackle the cyclone yaas.

The impending cyclone yaas has started giving nightmares to the maize growers in the nine north-eastern districts of Bihar.

Upanna, an annex building of Nabanna, has been decked up to serve as the control room for cyclone yaas.

The cyclone yaas landfall has begun near Dhamra port in Odisha at 9.15am on Wednesday, even as strong winds and heavy tides saw seawater ingress in many coastal towns and villages in Odisha and West Bengal ahead of the landfall.

A cyclone (Yaas) is in the making over the Bay of Bengal, but the city doesn’t have a reliable weather radar to track rain bearing clouds.

For the first time in Jharkhand’s nearly 21 years of existence, the projected path of a cyclone is set to pass through the state and likely to leave a trail of destruction. The state government has now scrambled to protect its assets and people apart from making efforts to conduct rescue operations. However, there are no plans to evacuate people currently.

Two trains plying between Ranchi and Howrah were cancelled and various trains running through Jharkhand will remain cancelled in between May 25 and May 26 as a preventive measure against cyclone yaas.

Chief minister Hemant Soren on Friday ordered an inquiry into Thursday’s collapse of a bridge, which was newly constructed over Kanchi river in Sonahatu block of Ranchi district and awaiting inauguration, during cyclone yaas.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday requested people to cooperate with the administration and move to safer locations from vulnerable areas, which may come under the influence of cyclone yaas, in order to ensure that there is no loss to life.

PM Modi on Sunday held a meeting with senior government officials to review the preparations for the approaching cyclone yaas. He asked the officials for a timely evacuation of people involved in off-shore activities. PM Modi also asked the officials to minimise the time of outages of power, telephone networks, said PMO after the review meeting.

As cyclone yaas dashes towards landfall early on Wednesday, the Patna Meteorological Centre issued a yellow code warning for thunderstorms and lightning with gusty winds till Saturday. The impact of the cyclone is likely to be more in south Bihar.

cyclone yaas may have weakened, but its impact is not over yet as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued forecast for fairly widespread rainfall, thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds in the state on Sunday as well.