Cyclone may hit West Bengal, Odisha coasts on Wednesday

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar: A depression in east central Bay of Bengal is very likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm with a possible wind speed of 155 kmph to 165 kmph and make landfall on May 26 evening between Paradip in Odisha and Sagar island in West Bengal, the Met department said on Sunday.

The system, which lays 670 km south-southeast of Digha in West Bengal and 590 km east-southeast of Paradip, will cause heavy to very heavy rain in the coastal and interior districts of the two states as it progresses, said Sanjib Bandopadhyay, the deputy director of the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata.

The depression will intensify into a cyclonic storm by May 24 morning and move in a north-northwesterly direction. "In subsequent 24 hours, it will intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and reach north Bay of Bengal near West Bengal-Odisha coasts on May 26 morning," Bandopadhyay said. Odisha would experience light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy rainfall in the north coastal districts from May 25, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Heavy to very heavy rains are likely to occur at a few places in the state with extremely heavy rainfall in districts such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj on May 26, it said. Squally wind speed reaching 40 to 50 km per hour gusting to 60 kmph is very likely to prevail over north Bay of Bengal and along and off Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts from May 24 evening, he said.