Cyclone ‘Amphan’ has actually magnified into a very extreme storm and is all set to unleash heavy rains coupled with high-velocity winds in coastal Odisha, triggering the State government to get ready for the possible evacuation of 11 lakh people.
Here are the current updates:
3.00 pm
Amphan magnifies into incredibly cyclone; most likely to cross West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts on May 20 as extremely severe cyclonic storm: IMD
2.30 pm
37 NDRF groups to combat dual difficulty of cyclone Amphan, COVID-19
The NDRF has actually enhanced its strength to a total of 37 groups, with the addition of 20 more, to combat the “dual obstacle” of cyclone ‘Amphan’ amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the federal contingency force said on Monday.
S N Pradhan, the National Catastrophe Response Force (NDRF) Director General, said the force is totally geared with all the equipment and paraphernalia to deal with the “developing situation which the Indian Meteorological Department has actually said will turn into a really serious cyclonic storm by this night and continue to be so for sometime”.
” A total of 37 teams have actually been deployed by NDRF in West Bengal and Odisha, out of which 20 teams are actively deployed and 17 are on standby in the 2 states,” Pradhan stated in a video message.
A single NDRF group has a strength of about 45 personnel.
1.50 pm
Bengal braces for cyclone
While the Odisha government is getting ready for a possible evacuation of 11 lakh people residing in vulnerable areas, the West Bengal federal government has actually provided an alert in seaside districts and sent out relief groups.
Under the cyclone’s effect, the seaside districts of Gangetic West Bengal, consisting of North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, East and West Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly are likely to experience light to moderate rain at lots of places with heavy downpour at isolated places on Might 19, G K Das, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata said.