BHUBANESWAR: Odisha is bracing for another cyclone, the second this year on the Bay of Bengal, which could trigger heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the state's coastal areas with wind speed above 100km per hour.
Though it is still early to predict its path or where it will make landfall, India Meteorological Department (IMD) director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the maximum impact will be on Odisha.
"The low pressure area over the Andaman Sea will intensify into a cyclonic storm by Saturday. It will edge closer to the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast on Saturday morning. Coastal Odisha will bear the maximum impact as the system may move north, north-east from the Odisha-Andhra coast," Mohapatra said.
Once it forms, the cyclone will be called Jawad. While rainfall is likely to start by Friday, wind speed may cross 70kmph to 80kpmh in the evening. "There could be heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the coastal parts of the state on Saturday. Wind speed would increase if the system turns into a severe cyclonic storm," Mohapatra added.
The IMD on Tuesday advised fishermen, who are in the sea, to return to the coast by Thursday, and not to venture afterwards. Farmers have been asked to finish harvesting by that time.
The Met office has issued yellow warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in 11 districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore and Jajpur, and predicted extremely heavy showers at one or two places over Ganjam, Puri and Jagatsinghpur.
"The state government is keeping a close watch on the situation," a senior government official said. In May, cyclone Yaas had battered the northern part of the state.
