Cyclone DANA Batters Odisha Coast, Leaves Widespread Damage; One Dead In West Bengal

Cyclone Dana hit the Odisha coast early today (25 October), uprooting trees, snapping power lines in several areas, and killing a person in West Bengal.

The storm made landfall around midnight between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph.

The IMD, in an update around 10 am, said the landfall process was completed and the system took at least eight and half hours to enter the landmass.

The update further stated that the cyclone is likely to move northwestwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a deep depression during the next six hours.

The IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Odisha and heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal.

In Odisha, there were reports of trees getting uprooted and some areas getting inundated. 

Earlier in the day, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that in the aftermath of the cyclone, special attention is being given to the affected districts.

"Arrangements have been made on a war footing for providing relief, rescue operations, transportation, medical assistance, etc. Priority is being given to quickly assess the damages and offer assistance to the people," the CM said.

The Odisha government said that they evacuated about 5.8 lakh people and deployed 385 rescue teams comprising National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), and Fire Service and Forest staff.

The services at Bhubaneswar's Biju Patnaik International Airport and Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, which were suspended on Thursday evening as part of precautionary measures, resumed at 8 am today.

Meanwhile, IMD DG Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the region where the landfall commenced would witness high-velocity wind at the speed of about 120 kmph till Friday morning. He also said that the landfall accelerated the tidal surge, which could go up to two meters above the astronomical height, in Kendrapada, Balasore, and Bhadrak districts.

In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that approximately 2.4 Lakh people have taken shelter in the camps.

East Midnapore and Kolkata experienced the Cyclone’s most burnt, with widespread waterlogging.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that one person died in the state in cyclone Dana. The death was reported from North 24 Parganas' Patharpratima.

"Only one person died in this natural disaster. The man died at his residence while conducting some cable-related work. It is quite unfortunate. The postmortem examination will give us a clear picture. If required we (state government) will help the family," Banerjee was quoted as saying by NDTV.

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