Cyclonic storm to cross Kendrapara-Bhadrak Coast on October 24 evening: CEC

The deep depression which formed over the Bay of Bengal had intensified into a cyclonic storm and was heading towards the Odisha coast, the Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) here said.

The system lay centered about 530 km south-east of Paradip on Wednesday morning and was moving in a north-westerly direction. It was expected to cross the Kendrapara-Bhadrak coast close to Rajnagar in the afternoon or evening of Thursday, a bulletin issued by CEC said.

The cyclone’s impact is likely to be high in Balasore and Bhadrak districts where the wind speed will be 80 kmph or more. The districts will start experiencing strong wind from around 11 pm of Wednesday night. The wind speed may reach 100 to 120 kmph in the forenoon of Thursday.

In Bhubaneswar city and nearby areas the wind speed may be in the range of 45 to 60 kmph while it will be in the range of 75 to 90 kmph in Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts and 35-45 kmph in Ganjam district during the landfall.

Light rain is expected from Wednesday in the coastal region but the districts of Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Khurda and Dhenkanal districts will experience heavy to very heavy rainfall from Thursday morning, it said.