Cyclone Bulbul was likely to cause heavy to very heavy rainfall in four coastal districts of Odisha and intensify into a “severe” storm by Thursday midnight, said the Indian Meteorological Department. All schools in Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara will remain closed from Friday to Sunday due to the heavy rainfall warning.
IMD said Bulbul had moved northwards in the Bay of Bengal with an average speed of 13 kmph and was headed towards the West Bengal and Bangladesh coast.
Special relief commissioner Pradip Kumar Jena said that the cyclone-- currently about 600-km south-southeast of Pradip port-- was unlikely to make a landfall in Odisha but will still trigger heavy to very-heavy rainfall in Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore and Bhadrak districts, starting Saturday.
“Even though cyclone Bulbul is not expected to make landfall in Odisha, heavy rainfall with wind is likely to occur towards Saturday evening across north Odisha coastal districts. The visible effects are likely to be experienced from November 8 evening,” said Jena.
Heavy rainfall warning has also been issued for the three districts of Cuttack, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj, while farmers in nine districts, including Puri and Khurda, have been asked to protect standing and harvested crops.
