Rain, gusty winds hit India's eastern coast as cyclone Yaas makes landfall
A man walks holding an umbrella during a drizzle at the Puri beach on the Bay of Bengal coast in Odisha, India. Cyclone Yaas was forecast to hit the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday. (AP Photo)
NEW DELHI: Cyclone Yaas started to make landfall on India's eastern coast on Wednesday morning, triggering rain and gusty winds, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
"The system would cross north Odisha-West Bengal coasts to the south of Balasore with next three hours as a very severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 130-140 km/h gusting to 155 km/h," the IMD said in its bulletin released at 9:15 a.m. local time.
Early morning visuals from West Bengal state's Digha and South 24 Parganas districts, and Odisha state's Kendrapara showed strong winds and waves rising from the sea, Xinhua news agency reported.
Officials said over half a million people have been shifted from low-lying regions in Odisha, while over 1.15 million people have been evacuated from places along the West Bengal coast.
Indian Railways has announced to cancel at least 38 long-distance passenger trains bound for Kolkata and southern states, and services will remain suspended until Saturday.
India's national disaster response force personnel (NDRF) teams have been deployed in the vulnerable areas to carry out rescue work, Director-General of NDRF S. N. Pradhan said.
The navy and army teams have also been deployed.
A total of 115 NDRF teams were being deployed in Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands in view of cyclone Yaas.
Last week, cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc as at least 70 people were killed after a barge off the coast of the Indian city of Mumbai sank amid the severe cyclone.
-- BERNAMA
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