Cyclone Warning: IMD Issues Red Alert in Odisha; Intensity of Rainfall to Increase From 4 Dec

The Odisha government asked collectors on Wednesday to prepare for evacuation from 13 districts due to the forecast of a cyclonic storm, Jawad, reaching the coast on December 4. 

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a low-pressure region emerging in the south Andaman Sea would deepen into a depression and proceed as a cyclonic storm towards the Odisha coast on December 4. 

The government has chalked out a disaster management strategy for rescue and relief operations as part of substantial preventive measures. The operations have been requisitioned by the National Disaster Response Force, the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, and fire department personnel. 

P K Jena, the state relief commissioner, stated in an advisory that the sea conditions are anticipated to worsen when the wind speed reaches 45 to 55 kmph, gusting to 65 kmph on Friday. When the depression transforms into a cyclonic storm, it will proceed to northwest and approach the north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast around Saturday morning. 

The wind speed is expected to reach 80kph with gusts up to 90kmph on the morning of Cyclone Jawad's landfall. 

"While it is obvious that the cyclonic storm will reach the Odisha coast, it is too early to predict where it will make landfall and other specifics." However, as a result of its impact, numerous coastal districts of Odisha may see mild to moderate rainfall from December 3. South Odisha districts may also get significant rains on December 3," said Mrutunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the IMD. 

"Only after the depression forms will we be able to anticipate the path and location of the cyclone as it crosses the coast, as well as its intensity," Mohapatra added. 

However, the intensity of rainfall in Odisha is predicted to increase from Saturday, with coastal and interior regions expected to get severe to extremely heavy rainfall.

The IMD has issued a red alert for the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, and Jagatsinghpur. For Saturday, an orange alert has been issued in the districts of Kendrapara, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Rayagada, and Koraput.