Bhubaneswar, October 23: Cyclone Dana will make landfall between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamara in Bhadrak district during the night of October 24 and the early hours of October 25, said India Meteorological Department.
As per the latest IMD bulletin, The cyclonic storm “DANA” (pronounced as Dana) over Eastcentral Bay of Bengal moved northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 0830 hrs IST of today, the 23rd October, over the same region near latitude 16.5° N and longitude 89.6°E, about 520 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 600 km south-southeast of Sagar Island (West Bengal) and 610 km south-southeast of Khepupara (Bangladesh).
“It is very likely to move northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over northwest Bay of Bengal by early morning of 24th and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during night of 24th to morning of 25th October, 2024 as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph,” it stated.
Meanwhile, as precautionary measures, the State Government has ordered closure of schools, colleges and universities till October 25 while leaves all the State Government officials have been cancelled in view of the impending cyclonic storm.
Adequate numbers of NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Service personnel have been deployed in districts likely to be affected due to the impending storm.
