As Cyclone Dana approaches, authorities in India’s eastern Odisha and West Bengal states have begun evacuating hundreds of thousands of residents from coastal areas. According to the India Meteorological Department, the cyclone currently lies over the Bay of Bengal. It will likely cross between midnight tonight and Friday morning with a wind speed of 100-110 km/h, gusting to 120 km/h.
Odisha’s Health Minister, Mukesh Mahaling, said close to a million people are being evacuated into cyclone shelters. In West Bengal, 100,000 people are also being evacuated, according to the minister, Bankim Chandra Hazra.
It is forecast to land near the coal-exporting port of Dhamara, around 230 km southwest of Kolkata, the West Bengal capital. In preparation for the storm, flights to and from airports in both state capitals, including Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, will remain suspended from Thursday evening to Friday morning.
The IMD has also warned fishing crews not to venture onto the water. Cameras in the area show images of fishermen scrambling to tie up homes and their boats. Schools in areas expected to be worst hit by the cyclone have been closed, and Odisha, it is reported, has canceled close to 200 trains.
Tourists along coasts have been warned to leave beach resorts and move to safe locations. In Puri, Odisha, hundreds of tourists went to the railway station to try to leave, according to a railway spokesperson, Kaushik Mitea.
Cyclone Dana is also expected to affect neighboring low-lying Bangladesh, where interim government leader Muhammad Yunus said, “Elaborate preparation is going on.”
The cyclone season, stretching from April to December, regularly brings heavy storms to India and Bangladesh coastal cities, often creating unparalleled destruction. Odisha faced its worst cyclone in recent history in 1999, killing 10,000 people after it barreled for 30 hours. In May, a cyclone with heavy winds of up to 135 km/h caused at least 16 deaths in India and Bangladesh.
