Cyclone Dana LIVE Updates: Heavy Shower, Gusty Winds In Odisha, Trees Uprooted; Rain Lashes Bengal As Well

Heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed parts of southern West Bengal as the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm “Dana” continued to tear through the Odisha coast since midnight.

In various parts of Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas, waterlogging has been reported, compounding the misery of the affected residents. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed.

(Via PTI)

In abid to review the cyclone situation in the state, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi held a meeting on Friday with the minister of revenue and disaster management, Suresh Pujari and Odisha's chief secretary, Manoj Ahuja at Rajiv Bhavan, in Bhubaneswar.

Several trees have been uprooted in Odisha's Dhamara, and Chandmali villages of Bhadrak district as coastal areas of Odisha witness strong winds and heavy rainfall.

The storm moved north-northwest at a speed of 15 kmph over the past six hours before making landfall between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak, with wind speeds of around 110 kmph, a senior IMD official said.

The sea conditions turned violent at Old Digha beach with the landfall of Cyclone Dana. Several people have been evacuated in the state to safer places as a pre-emptive measure.

In view of the predictions of adverse weather conditions, the Kolkata airport authorities suspended flight operations for 15 hours from 6 pm on Thursday.

“In view of cyclone Dana's impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, it has been decided to suspend the flight operations from 6 pm on October 24 to 9 am on October 25 due to predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall at Kolkata,” an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson said.

Flight operations remain suspended at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar. "Airport operation will be suspended from 5 pm on October 24 to 9 am on October 25 due to cyclone Dana," an official statement said.

Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi monitors the situation at State Emergency Control Room, Rajiv Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. Deveral trees have fallen in Dhamra owing to gusty winds as the landfall process in still underway.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee continues to monitor the situation from state Government Control Room in Howrah as landfall of Cyclone Dana is underway. A 24X7 helpline number (2214 3526) and some associated phone numbers have been made functional for monitoring and sharing information.

As the landfall process in still underway, gusty winds and heavy downpour have caused destruction in Dhamra, Bhadrak. On Friday, the landfall process began at around 12:10 am between Odisha's Dhamra Port and Bhitarkanika.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), "The severe cyclonic storm “dana” (pronounced as dana) moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph and lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of today, the 25th October, over north coastal odisha near latitude 21.00° n and longitude 86.85°e, about 20 km north-northwest of dhamara and 40 km north-northwest of habalikhati nature camp (bhitarkanika)."

"Landfall process continues and the rear sector of the cyclone is entering into land. The landfall process would continue for next 1-2 hours. It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards across north odisha and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm by forenoon of today, the 25th October", IMD added.

Cyclone Dana Landfall: The landfall process of severe cyclonic storm 'Dana' began on Odisha coast on Thursday night and is expected to continue till Friday morning, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The coastal districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore and nearby Jagatsinghpur district witnessed sudden increase in wind speed which reached 100 kmph to 110 kmph and extremely heavy rain.

Coast guard on high alert- The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has been on high alert in light of the cyclone hitting the states. Several vessels and aircraft have been mobilised in a bid to respond swiftly to any contingency owing to the cyclone.

CM's directions- In view of the possibility of torrential rainfall and other cyclone-related damages, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi urged all the MLAs to coordinate with the administration in rescue and relief operations in Odisha, which is likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone. In abid to ensure the CM's “zero casualty” goal, the state government has prepared an action plan for deployment of NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Services.