Extremely severe cyclone Fani likely to hit Odisha coast on May 3

Cyclonic Fani is likely to hit between Gopalpur and Chandbali in Odisha.

New Delhi: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued an update on cyclone Fani, which is likely to intensify over the Odisha coast on May 1.

The statement issued by NDMA, reported by news agency ANI, says that an 'extremely severe' form of cyclone Fani is likely to hit between Gopalpur and Chandbali, south of Puri in Odisha on May 3 with wind speed of 175-185 kmph gusting upto 205 kmph.

Fani is very likely to intensify into a severe storm by 1 pm on Tuesday, and thereafter into an extremely severe storm by May 1. It is very likely to move northwestwards till Wednesday evening and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards towards the Odisha Coast.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at a few places over coastal Odisha and adjoining districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh on 3 and 4 May. Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy rainfall at isolated places is also expected over coastal districts of West Bengal on these days.

In view of the cyclone, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and BrahMos Aerospace have put on hold the testfire of the air-launched version of supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft. 

Several high-level meetings are also taking place at the Centre and the states to take stock of the situation. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also ordered the advance release of Rs 1,086 crore to the State Disaster Response Funds of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.