KOLKATA, Oct 24 – At least 1.1 million people on India’s east coast fled to storm shelters inland, hours before a powerful cyclone is expected to hit the low-lying region, ministers said today.
Cyclone Dana is likely to hit the coast of West Bengal and Odisha state, home to about 150 million people, when winds will gust up to 120 kilometers per hour and cause ‘severe storms’ later today, India’s weather bureau forecast.
Major airports will be closed overnight, including major tourist hub Kolkata, where heavy rains have already lashed the mega city.
The eye of the storm was forecast to arrive early Friday, near the coal-exporting port of Dhamara, about 230 kilometers southwest of the big city of Kolkata.
It is also expected to impact low-lying neighboring Bangladesh, where interim government leader Muhammad Yunus said that ‘extensive preparations’ were being made.
Waves will crash violently and are expected to flood coastal areas, with water predicted to rise up to two meters above normal tide level.
Odisha state health minister Mukesh Mahaling said AFP that, “almost a million people from coastal areas were evacuated to the center of the typhoon.”
In the neighboring state of West Bengal, government minister Bankim Chandra Hazra said, “more than 100,000 people have so far been evacuated to safer places.”
Businesses in Puri, a popular beach resort, were ordered to close and tourists were told to leave.
“All efforts are being made to face the typhoon and save lives,” said Puri district magistrate Siddharth Swain.
Meanwhile, Kolkata airport director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said the airport would suspend flights overnight due to “predicted high winds and very heavy rain.”
The airport in the city of Bhubaneshwar will do the same, while many train journeys have been canceled and ferries from Kolkata have been ordered not to leave the port.
Such cyclones, the equivalent of a North Atlantic hurricane or a Pacific Northwest hurricane, are a common and deadly threat in the northern Indian Ocean.
Last May, Typhoon Remal killed at least 48 victims and at least 17 victims in neighboring Bangladesh, according to government figures.
Scientists have warned that storms and hurricanes are becoming stronger as the world warms with climate change. – AFP
