The cyclone, named Sitrang by Thailand, is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on Monday with wind speed reaching 90 to 100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph, the weather office said as quoted by the news agency PTI.
As per information shared by the weather forecasting agency, at 5.30 pm on Sunday, the cyclone was 580 km south of Sagar Island in West Bengal and 740 km south-southwest of Barisal in Bangladesh.
Here's a 10-point guide on Cyclone Sitrang
1) The cyclone will mainly affect the Sunderbans spread over West Bengal and Bangladesh as tidal waves are likely to reach a height of six metres owing to the twin effect of the weather system and new moon, deputy director-general of the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata Sanjib Bandopadhyay said.
2) After changing course in a northeastward direction from northwest-bound, the system will reach north Bay of Bengal before making landfall between Tinkona island and Sandwip close to Barisal in Bangladesh in the early morning of Tuesday, he added.
3) Met official said that light to moderate rain will occur in southern West Bengal districts till Wednesday morning owing to the system, PTI reported.
4) The system is very likely to bring heavy to very heavy rain in the coastal districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas and heavy rain in East and West Midnapore on Monday, he added.
5) Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly are likely to receive moderate rain on Monday and Tuesday. Heavy rain will occur in North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts on Tuesday, he said.
6) Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly and West Midnapore are likely to be affected by wind reaching speed of 40 to 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph on Tuesday, while it will be 30 to 40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph on Monday in these districts, Bandopadhyay told PTI.
7) Sitrang will bring in its wake wind reaching speed of 80 to 90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph in coastal North and South 24 Parganas on Tuesday, while it will cause wind reaching speed of 45 to 55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph on Monday in these districts along with East Midnapore.
8) As precautionary measures, South 24 Parganas' district magistrate Sumit Gupta said that already 10,000 people in the district have been moved to safer places, and work is on to shift another 30,000 people. Seven teams of NDRF and SDRF with 26 personnel in each team were on standby in the district.
9) A Kolkata Municipal Corporation official said it has initiated steps to tackle any situation that may emerge owing to Sitrang in the metropolis, including keeping all pumping stations fully active and making arrangements for shifting residents of dilapidated buildings to schools and community halls.
10) In Odisha, a yellow warning of heavy rainfall was issued for Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, and Cuttack districts till Tuesday morning.
(With PTI inputs)
