Cyclone Dana makes landfall in India’s Odisha, over 600,000 people evacuated to shelters till now

Cyclone Dana made its landfall in the Indian state of Odisha early Friday (Oct 25), according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD said that the landfall process is expected to continue till the morning hours of Friday. 

In a post on X, the IMD said, “Landfall process has commenced. It lay near latitude 20.5° N and longitude 87.1°E, about 50 km east-northeast of Paradip (Odisha), 40 km south-southeast of Dhamara (Odisha) and 160 km southwest of Sagar Island (West Bengal).”

The IMD also informed that Dana was very likely to move north-northwestwards and cross the north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during the next 3 to 4 hours as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph.

> On Friday, Odisha chief secretary Manoj Ahuja said that over 600,000 people had been evacuated and moved to cyclone shelters. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi was monitoring the situation at the State Emergency Control Room, Rajiv Bhavan, in Bhubaneswar.

> Visuals from the news agency ANI showed roads were blocked in coastal villages of Bhadrak’s Dhamra in Odisha. A few houses were also damaged.

> “…Roads are blocked as many trees are uprooted here. At first, we will clear NH and other roads and then we will head towards residential areas. Our two teams are working in Dhamra. We don’t have any information as of now, regarding any severe damage,” an official from Odisha Fire Services told ANI.

> Earlier, Suresh Pujari, State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister said that around 10 districts are likely to be affected by the cyclone, adding that the evacuation proves has already reached its conclusion.

> Meanwhile in West Bengal, thousands of people had been evacuated and shifted to relief camps by the state government. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that she would be monitoring the situation.

> Citing official data, ANI reported that the West Bengal government evacuated over 159,000 people and shifted nearly 83,600 people to relief camps. A safe zone had been established for fishing trawlers at Mohana in Digha in Purba Medinipur district. 

> On Friday morning, a light spell of rain lashed parts of Kolkata.