Cyclone Yaas to make landfall in Odisha’s Balasore district on May 26: Indian Met

Cyclone Yaas is expected to make landfall in Balasore district in India's eastern state of Odisha around noon on May 26. 

Yaas, which is likely to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coasts on May 26 after turning into a very severe cyclonic storm, will cross a 450-kilometre stretch ranging from Paradip in Odisha to Sagar Islands in Bengal, said the Indian Met Department (IMD) today.

IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra, often called the "Cyclone Man of India", said "four coastal districts of Odisha -- Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur -- are likely to be most impacted".

India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General SN Pradhan said, "We already have 22 NDRF teams in Odisha and 10 more are being airlifted from other parts of the country as per the requisition made by the Odisha government."

The Odisha state government has deployed NDRF, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire service personnel anticipating maximum impact in Balasore and Bhadrak districts, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said.

Jena said residents of low-lying areas will be evacuated to safer places and the district administrations have been asked to be prepared for a large-scale evacuation of people.

'Yaas' is likely to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Islands around noon on May 26 as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 155-165 kmph, Kolkata's Regional Meteorological Centre Deputy Director Sanjib Bandopadhyay said.

Bengal's coastal districts of Purba and Paschim Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, along with Howrah and Hooghly will experience light to moderate rainfall in most places with heavy to very heavy downpours at one or two places from May 25 owing to the system, Bandopadhyay said.

On May 26, the spread and intensity of rain will increase with the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall in Jhargram, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata, according to IMD.