BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone ‘Dana’ formed over the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday and travelled closer to the coast of Odisha, carrying with it apprehension of gusty wind and heavy rains as it in likelihood will cross the shoreline between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra as a severe category storm by Friday morning.
During the landfall process, the storm is expected to pack 110 kmph wind, gusting up to 120 kmph.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre’s forecast track indicated Dana’s landfall point between Basudevpur in Bhadrak and Chandipur in Balasore near a place Kharasahapur between Thursday night and Friday morning with maximum sustained winds of 55 knots translating to 101 km per hour.
Meanwhile, Dana tracked north-westwards with a speed of 12 km in the last six hours and lay about 420 km south-east of Paradip and 450 km south-southeast of Dhamra by 5.30 pm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said Dana will build up to a severe cyclonic storm after midnight and induce 1 metre to 2-metre storm surge.
It is likely to inundate low-lying areas in Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts during the landfall over the next 24 hours.
Gusty wind reaching a speed up to 120 km may prevail over Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts when the system crosses the coast between Thursday midnight and Friday morning, director, of Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar Manorama Mohanty said.
Eleven districts such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal may face the maximum impact of the system and have been put on high alert.
Under the influence of the storm, extremely heavy rainfall measuring over 200 mm may lash Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts on Thursday and Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore and Bhadrak districts on Friday.
The IMD said high precipitation may lead to flooding and waterlogging in coastal districts. Warning for all ports in Odisha was upgraded and distant warning signal number 10 was hoisted on Friday.
As Dana’ approached the eastern coast, Dhamra Port shut down all movement from Wednesday midnight until further notice to prevent risks associated with the severe weather system. Workforce was also relocated to safe places.
Some weather models suggested Dana may reach its peak strength over the sea and might lose some power as it approaches the land on Friday morning.