BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government began evacuation even as Jawad, post monsoon season's maiden cyclonic storm, is likely to lose steam by Saturday night and reach near Puri around Sunday afternoon as a deep depression.
Special Relief Commission Pradeep Jena informed that 688 persons were evacuated to safety, while 14 pregnant women were shifted to hospitals in Puri district.
In other parts of coastal districts such as Cuttack, Ganjam and Jagatsinghpur, the administration was shifting people from low-lying areas. Over 1,400 people have been evacuated so far and the exercise will continue keeping in view of the movement and intensity of Jawad.
"The evacuation is continuing in vulnerable pockets of Puri and response teams are alert to handle any emergency," said the district officials.
Meanwhile, Jawad, lying over west-central Bay of Bengal, moved slightly northwards with a speed of 4 km/hr in last six hours and lay centered at 5.30 am on Saturday about 410 km south-southwest of Puri. The tropical storm is likely to weaken gradually, move northwards in next 12 hours and then towards north-northeastwards along Odisha coast and reach near Puri
"Jawad is likely to reach near Puri as a deep depression with maximum sustained wind speed of 50 km to 60 km per hour and gusting up to 70 km," said Scientist of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Umasankar Das.
The regional Met office said the reduced value of tropical cyclone heat potential (TCPH) and sea surface height anomaly are factors which did not assist in further intensification of the tropical storm. Jawad is expected to weaken further after reaching near Puri and continue to move north-northeastwards along Odisha coast towards West Bengal coast.
The national forecaster said rainfall activity will continue in the State this weekend under the influence of the system. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected at some places in south, coastal and interior districts on Saturday and Sunday. However, Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) said the storm even may not brush coastal Odisha by Sunday.