Apart from wind blowing at 120-165 kmph velocity, Odisha will also experience heavy rain;’Cyclone Man of India’
Bhubaneswar: IMD Director General Dr Mrutunjay Mohapatra, better known as the ‘Cyclone Man of India’, said, “Four coastal districts of Odisha — Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur — are likely to be most impacted by the cyclonic storm.”
Mohapatra said that apart from wind blowing at 120-165 kmph velocity, Odisha will also experience heavy rain.
however , The Odisha government has deployed rescue teams and is chalking out plans to evacuate people from vulnerable areas, a senior official said.
The state government has deployed National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and Fire Services personnel anticipating maximum impact in Balasore and Bhadrak districts, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said.
Jena said residents of low-lying areas will be evacuated to safer places and the district administrations have been asked to be prepared for a large-scale evacuation of people.
The SRC, who personally supervised preparedness in Balasore and Bhadrak districts, instructed authorities to take more buildings into possession to maintain social distancing among evacuees.
He said 22 teams of NDRF, 60 ODRAF teams and Fire and Forest officials have been deployed in vulnerable areas.
NDRF Director General S N Pradhan said, “We already have 22 NDRF teams in Odisha and 10 more are being airlifted from other parts of the country as per the requisition made by the Odisha government.”
