Cyclone Jawad likely to make landfall in Puri
Bhubaneswar: Cyclonic storm Jawad, which is expected to reach Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast by Saturday morning, is likely to make landfall somewhere in Puri district before heading out to the Bay of Bengal, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said on Friday.
Going by the projected trajectory of cyclone, as issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the system may strike the Puri coast and return to the sea, he told reporters here.
Wind speed, during the landfall, will remain around 90-100 kmph, the SRC stated.
The speed may gradually decrease after touching the Odisha coast.
“There’s also a possibility of the cyclonic system changing its course, thus avoiding a landfall in Odisha. It could just pass along the coastline, with Puri experiencing a rub-off effect,” he explained.
Jena further said that the state government is making necessary preparations to deal with eventualities in all coastal districts, with focus on Ganjam, Puri and Jagatsinghpur.
It has ordered the district administrations to start evacuating people from the low-lying areas.
“I spoke to director general, IMD, and he indicated that the landfall is expected to take place on Sunday. It will have more impact on the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara,” Jena said.
The government has rushed relief and rescue teams to the districts, which are more likely to get affected by the cyclone and accompanying rain.
The SRC, however, said that there is no possibility of flood due to heavy rainfall, but streets might get water-logged, both in urban and rural areas of the coastal districts.
All fishermen have returned to the coast by Thursday and fishing activities have been banned in the Bay of Bengal as well as the Chilika Lake, he maintained.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra held a video conference with collectors of the vulnerable districts and suggested measures to tackle the effects of the approaching cyclone.
The IMD, in its latest bulletin, said cyclone Jawad lay centred about 420 km south-south of Vishakhapatam in Andhra Pradesh — 530 km from south-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha.