Cyclone Yaas has begun the landfall process, the India Meteorological Department said at 9 am. The location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, around 50 km of Balasore, an official said. The wind speed during landfall was at 130-140 kmph, gusting to 155 kmph, as per Doppler radar data.
“The landfall process has begun and will take three-four hours to complete. The maximum impact will be in Balasore and Bhadrak districts,” Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said. Around 5.80 lakh people have been shifted to safe shelters, he said
Visuals from Bengal’s Digha and South 24 Paraganas districts, and Odisha’s Kendrapara showed strong winds and waves, with some coastal areas already flooded and people wading through knee-deep water on roads along the sea front. Over 11.5 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable places in West Bengal in view of the impending cyclone Yaas, informed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Odisha government said it has moved over 2 lakh people from vulnerable areas in coastal districts to safety. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) earlier predicted that the wind speed during the landfall would be around 155-165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph. The landfall process was delayed for some hours with the system’s velocity decreasing to 12 kmph from 15-16 kmph, Mr Jena said. The cyclone did not intensify any further after 2 am, he said.