Cyclone Jawad to hit Odisha in afternoon; Puri witnesses 'moderate' rainfall, NDRF teams on alert

NDRF personnel evacuate tourists from a beach in Puri on December 4 (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday (December 5, 2021) morning said that Cyclone Jawad is going to weaken into a Depression and will reach the Odisha coast near Puri in the afternoon.

The met department informed through a tweet that the cyclonic storm lay centered about 130 km SSE of Gopalpur at 5:30 AM. 

"Likely to move north-northeast wards, weaken further into a Depression and reach Odisha coast near Puri around noon of today," the IMD added.

The DD lay centered at 0530hrs IST of 05th Dec, over northwest & adjoining westcentral BoB near Lat18.2°N, Long85.4°E, about 130km SSE of Gopalpur. Likely to move north-northeast wards, weaken further into a Depression and reach Odisha coast near Puri around noon of today. pic.twitter.com/vEqvsiddnW — India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) December 5, 2021

Cyclone Jawad, notably, lay centered about 200 km south of Gopalpur at 11:30 PM on Saturday.

DD remnant of CS ‘JAWAD’ over westcentral BoB, lay centered at 2330hrs IST of 4th Dec, near Lat17.5°N, Long85.0°E, about 200km south of Gopalpur. Likely to move NNEwards, weaken further into a Depression by morning of 5th Dec, reach Odisha coast near Puri around noon of same day. pic.twitter.com/QTCBrtw793 — India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) December 4, 2021

Several districts to witness rains

The Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar predicted moderate rain/thundershowers with one or two intense/heavy spells of rain over some parts of districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khorda, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Cuttack during the next three hours.

#WATCH Odisha's Puri witnesses moderate rainfall as cyclonic storm Jawad is likely to reach around noon today; 'Jawad' is likely to weaken further into a Depression, as per IMD pic.twitter.com/Qn0wDO0WAq — ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2021

The IMD had earlier issued 'red warning' (heavy to very heavy rainfall) at one or two places in Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts, orange warning (be prepared-heavy to very heavy rainfall) at one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak Kendrapada, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khordha, Ganjam and Gajapati district till 8.30 am on Sunday.

It had also issued a yellow warning (be updated- heavy rainfall) for Nayagarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj till the same time.

1,500 people evacuated 

Meanwhile, special relief commissioner PK Jena has said that 1,500 people, including 300 pregnant women have been evacuated in view of the cyclone threat.

"People living in a low lying area of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Niali area of Cuttack district were evacuated and kept in shelter houses," he said.

Stating that the state will be impacted by rain and not by wind, Jena said the government has asked the district collectors to access damages caused to the standing crop due to a downpour in the coastal region.

The crop damage assessment will be done in the next 7 days, Jena said.

He said nearly 22,700 fishing boats have already returned from the sea and Chilika lake.

A report from the Ganjam district said that the authorities on Saturday provided shelter to over 500 fisherfolk from Andhra Pradesh who came ashore along with their trawlers in view of the cyclone.

The fishermen, who are from Visakhapatnam were in the Bay of Bengal in 68 trawlers for the past few days and could not return to Andhra Pradesh as the sea was very rough, sources said.

"We have allowed them to berth their boats at the Gopalpur port. All of them have also been provided shelter facilities. They are now safe," district collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said.

Earlier, the entire coastal region of Odisha experienced rainfall on Friday night which gradually lessened during the day on Saturday. Paradip recorded the maximum downpour at 23 mm followed by Chandbali (21), Bhubaneswar (19.6) and Balasore (12) between 8.30 AM and 5.30 PM on Saturday.

18 NDRF teams deployed in West Bengal

As many as 18 NDRF teams have been deployed in West Bengal as the sea at Digha has turned rough due to cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal.

According to the Asst Commandant of NDRF in Digha, SD Prasad, "18 NDRF teams are deployed in West Bengal. We carried out awareness programmes and are ready for evacuations if needed. It is a matter of relief that `Jawad` will weaken into a deep depression when it reaches Puri beach today."

As per Home Ministry inputs, Cyclone shelters have already been readied and evacuation of people from the low lying areas is being carried out. It is also learnt that all actions have been taken to stock food grains, drinking water, and other essential supplies. Teams for maintenance and restoration of power, roads, water supply, and other essential services have also been positioned. Harvesting of standing crops is also being done to minimize damages. 

(With agency inputs)