BHUBANESWAR: Odisha carried out a massive evacuation to shift 1.2 lakh people from low lying areas in the State as monstrous cyclone Amphan triggered heavy rains and strong wind in coastal districts on Wednesday.
"About 1.20 lakh people, mostly those staying in kutcha houses, have been evacuated and shifted to the cyclone shelter homes. So far, no major damage has been reported in the State and we are keeping a close watch on the movement of the cyclone," said Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy.
Tripathy said the next six hours are very crucial and asserted that various agencies and departments are ready to respond in case of any emergency like clearing roads, restoring electricity and water supply in the affected areas, among others.
'Amphan' which triggered heavy rainfall and squally winds in many parts of Odisha from Tuesday night onwards was downgraded from super cyclone to extremely severe cyclonic storm.
In the last 24 hours ending at 4.30 am on Wednesday, Paradip experienced 144 mm rainfall, Puri 58 mm, Chandbali 56 mm, Balasore 39 mm and Bhubaneswar 35 mm.
India Meteorological Centre (IMD) said wind speed of 170 km/hr to 180 km/hr and gusting up to 200 km/hr prevailed near the centre of Amphan, which weakened into extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday.
Strong winds up to 81 km/hr prevailed in Paradip, 65 km/hr in Chandbali, 41 km/hr in Balasore, 41 km/hr in Bhubaneswar, 39 km/hr in Puri and 30 km/hr in Gopalpur.
The national forecaster has issued an orange warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts and for heavy rainfall at one or two places in Jajpur, Keonjhar and Bhadrak districts on Wednesday.
Light to moderate rainfall or thundershower activity is expected at most places in north coastal Odisha and Mayurbhanj district and at few places in the remaining districts of the State during the same period.
Odisha, IMD, said wind speed of 100 km/hr to 110 km/hr and gusting up to 125 km/hr will prevail along and off Odisha coast - Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts and Mayurbhanj district, while Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur districts will experience squally winds gusting up to 75 km/hr on Wednesday.
Met office has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off Odisha coast till Thursday.
IMD has said the tropical storm will lead to damages in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts.
Total destruction of thatched houses, extensive damage to kutcha houses, bending or uprooting of power and communication poles, widespread damage to standing crops and potential threat from flying objects is expected in these districts.
IMD, Odisha, Director HR Biswas said, "Amphan lay centered at 7.30 am as an extremely severe cyclonic storm over north-west Bay of Bengal near 125 km east-southeast of Paradip, 225 south of Digha and 380 km south-west of Khepupara in Bangladesh.
Amphan is expected to move north-northeastwards and cross West Bengal - Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatiya Island close to Sundarban between afternoon and evening with wind speed gusting up to 185 km/hr, he added.