Cyclone Yaas pounds Odisha-Bengal coasts with wind speed of 130-140 kmph

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Cyclone Yaas pounded the beach towns in north Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal as it hit the coast around 9 am on Wednesday with a wind speed of 130-140 kmph, inundating the low-lying areas amid a storm surge, officials said.

The location of the landfall was north of Dhamra in Odisha’s Bhadrak district and 50 km south of Balasore, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, they said. The wind speed during landfall was at 130-140 kmph, gusting to 155 kmph, as per Doppler radar data.

“The landfall process is likely to be over by 1 pm. The maximum impact will be in Balasore and Bhadrak districts,” Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said. The sea will remain rough till Thursday and the accompanying rain will continue, he said. The wind will slow down by the evening and the cyclone is likely to leave Odisha for Jharkhand by midnight, Jena said.