Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: Cyclone Dana struck the Odisha coast early today, uprooting trees, damaging power lines, and causing one fatality in West Bengal. The storm made landfall between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra, bringing winds of up to 110 kmph. Here’s a closer look at Cyclone Dana’s impact:
1. Landfall and Initial Impact: Cyclone Dana’s landfall began around midnight, affecting Odisha’s Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore, and Jagatsinghpur districts with wind speeds of up to 110 kmph and heavy rainfall.
2. Landfall Completion: According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the landfall concluded around 10 am today, after nearly eight hours.
3. Gradual Weakening: Cyclone Dana is expected to weaken gradually over the next six hours, the IMD reported.
4. Odisha’s Zero Casualty Mission: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi stated that the “Zero Casualty Mission” was successful, with no reported fatalities or injuries due to the storm.
5. Fatality in West Bengal: In Patharpratima, South 24 Parganas district, one person tragically died while working on a cable during the storm. Other areas, including East Midnapore and Kolkata, reported heavy rain and waterlogging.
6. Airports Resume Operations: Bhubaneswar’s Biju Patnaik and Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose airports, closed on Thursday night as a precaution, reopened at 8 am today.
7. Extensive Evacuations and Closures: Both states evacuated residents, closed schools, cancelled over 400 trains, and suspended flights in preparation for the cyclone’s impact.
8. Odisha’s Evacuation and Rescue Teams: The Odisha government evacuated about 5.8 lakh people and deployed 385 rescue teams, including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel.
9. Evacuations in Bengal: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reported that 2,43,374 people sought shelter in emergency camps across the state.
10. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Supervision: CM Banerjee remained at the state secretariat overnight, monitoring the situation closely.
