BHUBANESWAR: Odisha and Bengal battened down the hatches as severe cyclone Dana began baring its fangs on way to landfall around Thursday-Friday midnight, with lakhs evacuated to safety, airports and railways shut for over 12 hours and fear emptying streets like Covid did four years ago.
By late night, more than 5 lakh had been evacuated in Odisha. PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah spoke with CM Mohan Majhi, discussing preparations and promising all assistance.
Most coastal districts in Odisha saw moderate to heavy rain Thursday as Dana inched closer ahead of its predicted landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district and Dhamra Port around midnight. Moving at a speed of 12km per hour in Bay of Bengal, Dana felled trees in Kendrapada , Bhadrak, and Puri districts. Storm surges and high tides were reported in Bhadrak, Kendrapada, and Balasore. IMD predicted wind speeds of 100-110 kmph, gusting up to 120kmph in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, and Balasore. IMD also warned of storm surges 1 to 2m height above astronomical tide, which is likely to inundate low-lying areas of Odisha's Kendrapara, Bhadrak, and Balasore during landfall. Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was likely in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Angul.
Flights were suspended from Bhubaneswar from 5pm Thursday to 9am Friday. Most trains were cancelled on the Bhubaneswar-Howrah route. In Kolkata, business and commercial hubs wore a deserted look. Local train services were halted from Sealdah from 8 pm Thursday till 10 am Friday. It also cancelled around 200 local trains in Howrah division, apart from more than 150 long-distance expresses. Flights were suspended at Kolkata airport for nearly 15 hours from 6pm Thursday to 9am on Friday.
By late night, more than 5 lakh had been evacuated in Odisha. PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah spoke with CM Mohan Majhi, discussing preparations and promising all assistance.
Most coastal districts in Odisha saw moderate to heavy rain Thursday as Dana inched closer ahead of its predicted landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district and Dhamra Port around midnight. Moving at a speed of 12km per hour in Bay of Bengal, Dana felled trees in Kendrapada , Bhadrak, and Puri districts. Storm surges and high tides were reported in Bhadrak, Kendrapada, and Balasore. IMD predicted wind speeds of 100-110 kmph, gusting up to 120kmph in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, and Balasore. IMD also warned of storm surges 1 to 2m height above astronomical tide, which is likely to inundate low-lying areas of Odisha's Kendrapara, Bhadrak, and Balasore during landfall. Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was likely in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Angul.
Flights were suspended from Bhubaneswar from 5pm Thursday to 9am Friday. Most trains were cancelled on the Bhubaneswar-Howrah route. In Kolkata, business and commercial hubs wore a deserted look. Local train services were halted from Sealdah from 8 pm Thursday till 10 am Friday. It also cancelled around 200 local trains in Howrah division, apart from more than 150 long-distance expresses. Flights were suspended at Kolkata airport for nearly 15 hours from 6pm Thursday to 9am on Friday.
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