Bhubaneswar, October 23: The deep depression which formed
over the Bay of Bengal had intensified into a cyclonic storm and was
heading towards the Odisha coast, the Centre for Environment and
Climate (CEC) of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA)
here said.
The system lay centered about 530 km south-east of Paradip on
Wednesday morning and was moving in a north-westerly direction. It
was expected to cross the Kendrapara-Bhadrak coast close to Rajnagar
in the afternoon or evening of Thursday, a bulletin issued by CEC said.
The cyclone’s impact is likely to be high in Balasore and Bhadrak
districts where the wind speed will be 80 kmph or more. The districts
will start experiencing strong wind from around 11 pm of Wednesday
night. The wind speed may reach 100 to 120 kmph in the forenoon of
Thursday.
In Bhubaneswar city and nearby areas the wind speed may be in
the range of 45 to 60 kmph while it will be in the range of 75 to 90
kmph in Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts and 35-45 kmph in Ganjam
district during the landfall.
Light rain is expected from Wednesday in the coastal region but
the districts of Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj,
Khurda and Dhenkanal districts will experience heavy to very heavy
rainfall from Thursday morning, it said.