IMD has reported that Cyclone Dana is expected to hit Odisha-West Bengal coastlines on October 25.
Cyclone Dana is expected to make landfall in Odisha, on the night of October 24 or early on October 25, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It is because the depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified on Tuesday, which would lead to a cyclonic storm. Known as Cyclone Dana, it will hit the Odisha-West Bengal coastlines, with wind speeds ranging from 100 to 110 miles per hour.
Owing to that, the East Coast Railways (ECoR) has announced the cancellation of 178 trains, with most trains suspended from October 23 to October 25.ECoR has set up a 24/7 Disaster Management Cell as well, which would focus on the rapid restoration of train services in cyclone-hit areas. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and other rescue teams along with the authorities of Odisha, West Bengal are already on high alert. All schools in coastal areas of Odisha and West Bengal, including South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura, Hooghly, Howrah, and Kolkata, have been announced to shut down.
While evacuations have started in the coastal districts with the state prepared for the evacuation of nearly 1 million residents, it cannot go unnoticed that Odisha has witnessed 10 cyclones in the past 22 years. More so, the frequency of such disasters have been on the rise.
The 1999 super cyclone could not be properly assessed at the meteorological center, Bhubaneswar, and the disaster left over 10,000 people dead. Meanwhile, the state faced another major disaster in cyclone Phailin, which made landfall near Gopalpur in Ganjam district on October 12, 2013. It was the second strongest tropical cyclone in India post the 1999 one, and had a wind speed of 140 mph. At the time, 23 people were killed. It was followed by cyclone Hudhud in 2014. It hit the Visakhapatnam city of Andhra Pradesh on October 12, 2014, but it affected Odisha as well.
In 2018, residents and authorities were in for a shock when cyclone Titli hit in 2018. When it entered Gajapati district, no major preparations were made to tackle it, and around 77 people got killed in Odisha due to heavy rainfall. In 2019, two cyclones - Fani and Bulbul -- hit India’s eastern coast, and the states of Odisha and West Bengal were majorly hit. Fani was touted to be a high-end Category-4 major hurricane.
Coming to 2020, Cyclone Amphan claimed lives and damaged lives and property in Odisha and West Bengal when it made its landfall near Bakkhali in West Bengal. Cyclone Amphan was, in fact, thefirst pre-monsoon super cyclone of this century to have come from the Bay of Bengal.
In May 2021, Cyclone Yaas hit Odisha's Dhamra, and in September the same year, cyclone Gulab hit the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast. It was followed by Cyclone Shaheen. Lastly, Odisha braced Cyclone Jawad, which was the first winter cyclone in the state in about 100 years. And now in 2024, the state is gearing up to face the challenges of Cyclone Dana.
