A woman stands near her damaged house hit by Cyclone Titli in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, Friday. (PTI photo)
Cyclone Titli, which made landfall near Gopalpur in Odisha early Thursday morning, weakened into a deep depression and moved towards northeast on Friday, reported PTI. The storm is now likely to further lose its strength and enter the Gangetic West Bengal. Skymet Weather has predicted heavy rainfall in various districts of West Bengal, Bangladesh, and also parts of northeastern India including Tripura and Mizoram.
Heavy rainfall is expected in Digha, Kolkata, Contai, Purulia and both the North and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal in the next 24 hours. It is likely to intensify by Friday night and continue until Saturday morning. Fishermen have also been issued alerts and advised not to sail into the sea along and off the coasts West Bengal and Odisha, deep sea areas of North and Central Bay of Bengal till Saturday, reported PTI.
On Thursday morning Cyclone Titli made landfall near Gopalpur in Odisha with surface wind speeds of 126 kmph, reported news agency PTI. Late Thursday night, PTI reported the death of an eight-year-old boy by drowning in a canal in Ganjam district. As many as 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed along with the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) at several places across the state. Read in Bangla.
Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi told reporters the government is monitoring rainfall in various parts of the state and is alert to any potential flood situation. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has constituted a three-member ministerial committee to visit the three worst-affected districts to monitor rescue and relief operation.
Bihar and Jharkhand will also get rainfall in isolated areas.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has ordered immediate supply of essential commodities to the families affected by CycloneTitli.
According to Odisha government, the average rainfall of the state recorded on Friday for the last 24 hours is 74.1mm. Nine districts recorded an average rainfall more than 100 mm. The flood situation in three south Odisha districts —Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada— is worrisome as the water levels in Rushikulya and Vansadhara crossed their danger marks, official sources told PTI. The districts received highest rainfall for three days under the impact of Cyclone Titli that made landfall at Palasa near Gopalpur in Ganjam on Thursday morning.
The state government of Orissa has decided that all offices would remain open during Puja vacation.
The cyclone system is expected to give rainfall over Bangladesh as well as north eastern parts of the country. Skymet Weather has predicted heavy rainfall over both Tripura and Mizoram on Friday and Saturday. Weather conditions are expected to be clear after October 14.Parts of Assam may also experience some rainfall along with Nagaland and Manipur. However, the state of Arunachal Pradesh will not be affected, predicted Skymet weather.
Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has constituted a three-member ministerial committee to visit the three worst-affected districts to monitor rescue and relief operation. Of the 22 blocks in Ganjam district, 13 were badly hit due to cyclone and floods. Blocks like Aska, Purusottampur and Sanakhemundi were inundated by rainwater as well as water from Rusikulya river gushed into the villages, a senior official said. The low-lying areas in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and the pilgrim town of Puri also remained waterlogged due to rain."A large number of pumps have been pressed into service by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) to clear water," a civic body official said.
Skymet weather has predicted heavy rainfall in parts of West Bengal including Digha, Kolkata, Contai, Purulia and both the North and South 24 Parganas in the next 24 hours. Rainfall is expected to intensify by today evening and continue until tomorrow morning.
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The North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, East Burdwan, Howrah and Hooghly districts in the Gangetic West Bengal are likely to be affected the most, weathermen told PTI. Heavy rain is also likely in Kolkata, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Malda, North and South Dinajpur districts till Saturday.
Fishermen have also been issued alerts and advised not to sail into the sea along and off the coasts West Bengal and Odisha, deep sea areas of North and Central Bay of Bengal till Saturday, reported PTI.
The meteorological department has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the Gangetic West Bengal till Saturday as the cyclonic storm 'Titli', which has weakened into a deep depression, moved towards northeast, reported PTI.
The storm is likely to further lose its strength and turn into a depression as it moves through Odisha and enter the Gangetic West Bengal following landfall at Gopalpur in Ganjam district of Odisha, the weathermen told PTI.
At least 16 trains have been cancelled, 11 others have been rescheduled, three others were partially cancelled and nine trains were diverted following the incessant rain triggered by Titli, East Coast Railway official said, PTI reported.
The water on railway track in Berhampur-Palasa section submerged since last night and is yet to recede due to constant rain. The official further reported that water level has touched the danger mark at a bridge between Ichhapuram and Jhadpudi stations in Berhampur-Palasa railway section.
Among the 16 trains cancelled are:
Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu took to Twitter and appealed to people to stand for the citizens of Srikakulam, facing severe problems due to the storm and work together until the conditions are met. he further wrote all departments are working in coordination to evaluate the loss of crop and property.
All India Radio News reported that the cyclone is gradually weakening and isolated rainfall was recorded over Rayagada, Ganjam and Gajapati districts in Odisha.
Major rivers including the ones in south Odisha are in spate and stretches of low-lying areas have been inundated by rainwater, PTI quoted Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi. Several rivers including Rushikylya, Vansadhara and Jalaka, have started to swell due to constant rainfall.
'We have been moving people to safe places at Chikiti, Dharakote, Patrapur and Sanakhemundi blocks of Ganjam district as river Rushikulya is in spate,' said SRC.
The water level of Vansadhara river has touched 84.35m and 56.30m at Gunupur and Kashinagar respectively, crossing the danger mark of 84m and 54.6m. Similarly, the water level of river Rushikulya has crossed the mark of 16.83m and touched 18.60 metre at Purushottampur in Ganjam.
'The administration is prepared to deal with emergency situations,' the SRC said, PTI quoted.
Office of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik informed six pregnant women were rescued from Hinjili area and Ganjam district. The women were taken to CHC Hinjili last night and four babies were delivered successfully by an OG specialist early morning today. The CM's office affirmed that mothers and babies are doing well.
The Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar has issued a press release predicting moderate to severe thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, intense rainfall and strong surface wind in several districts of Bhubaneswar including Khurdha, Mayurbhanja, Balasore, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Kandhamal, Sundargarh, Kendrapada and Deogarh between 12 pm and 2 pm today.
Indian Coast Guard has deployed its team in Aksa town, Ganjam district, Odisha for assistance and relief operations. The ICG relief teams and district administration are working together to rescue as many people.
IMD predicted the weather conditions for next two days in cyclone-hit areas
Tomorrow: Heavy to very heavy rain is very likely to fall at isolted places over Assam, Meghalaya, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and Nagaland. The squally wind speed is likely to increase reaching 120-130 kmph gusting to 145 kmph. Sea conditions will be phenomenal around the system centre over Westcentral Arabian Sea and over Guld of Aden.
October 14: Heavy rain is likely to fall at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura and Kerala. Strong winds reaching 105-115 kmph gusting to 130 kmph will prevail over west central Arabian Sea. Sea conditions will be very rough around the system centre over west central Arabian Sea and over Gulf of Aden.
National Disaster Management Authority has confirmed seven deaths in Andhra Pradesh, quoting Andhra Pradesh Emergency Control Room.