Cyclone Fani likely to cross Odisha coast tomorrow, says IMD

Bhubaneswar Odisha The extremely severe cyclone Fani is about 450 km from Puri and likely to cross the Odisha coast tomorrow afternoon the India Meteorological Department IMD said on ThursdayThe extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani over west central Bay of Bengal moved northnortheastwards with a speed of about 15 kmph and lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of May 2 over west central Bay of Bengal about 450 km southsouthwest of Puri Odisha 230 km southsoutheast of Vishakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh and 650 km southsouthwest of Digha West Bengal the IMD said in its bulletinAccording to the weather office the storm is very likely to move northnortheastwards and cross the Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali around Puri during May 3 afternoon with a maximum wind speed of 170180 kmphThe IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into sea along and off the Odisha coast till May 4 The sea condition will remain phenomenal in west central Bay of Bengal and off the north Andhra Pradesh coast till tomorrow and northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha and West Bengal till May 4 it saidThe Met office said that sea conditions are likely to be very rough to high off north Tamil Nadu Puducherry along and off south Andhra Pradesh coasts till May 4It has said that the storm may cause damage to kutcha houses weak structures standing crops and plantationsThe bulletin suggested evacuation of people from coastal areas and appropriate regulation of rail and road traffic It asked people in areas expected to be affected to remain indoors and termed as unsafe movement in motor boats and small shipsHeavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places in the districts of Gajapati Ganjam Puri Khordha Nayagarh Cuttack Jagatsinghapur Jajpur Bhadrak Kendrapara Balasore Kandhamal Rayagada Angul Dhenkanal Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj in Odisha it saidIsolated extremely heavy rainfall is likely in the districts of Puri Khurda Cuttack Jagatsinghapur Dhenkanal Jajpur Bhadrak Kendrapara Balasore and Mayurbhanj the IMD saidIn view of the cyclone the East Coast Railway has cancelled 103 trains plying through coastal districts of Puri Bhubaneswar Gunpur and Vishakhapatnam including SilcherTrivandrum Express 12508 East Coast Express 18645 HowrahChennai Mail 12839 Duronto Express 12246 and Amaravati Express 18048Bangalore CantGuwahati Express 12509 from Bangalore on May 2 will run on a diverted route via VizianagaramTitilagarhJharsuguda and VisakhapatnamAmritsar Hirakud Express 18507 from Visakhapatnam on May 3 will run via VizianagaramTitilagarh and SambalpurAccording to the East Coast Railway a special train will start from Puri on Thursday and go towards Shalimar in Kolkata The train with reserved and unreserved coaches will have stops at Khurda Road Bhubaneswar Cuttack Jajpur Kendujhar road Bhadrak Baleswar and KharagpurTwo more special trains will start from Puri today for Howrah The stoppages will include Khurda Road Bhubaneswar Cuttack Jajpur Kendujhar Road Bhadrak Balasore and KharagpurThe Ministry of Defence has authorised the proactive deployment of resources from the Navy and Coast Guard for succour at the time of needIt is monitoring the developing situation in the East Coast and has asked the Navy and Coast Guard to provide assistance with minimum reaction time an official statement saidThe Coast Guard has deployed 20 teams it said In Bhubaneswar preparations are underway by the Odisha Fire Services in view of the cyclonic storm Around 50 teams of six members each are on alert in the cityA National Disaster Response Force NDRF team has arrived in Ichchapuram in Andhra PradeshCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates