Cyclone Dana: Heavy rains lashes Odisha coast, south Bengal

Severe cyclonic storm "Dana" lashes southern West Bengal, causing heavy rains, strong winds, evacuations, and transportation disruptions.

Heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed parts of southern West Bengal as the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm “Dana” continued to tear through the Odisha coast since midnight on Thursday (October 24, 2024).

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According to the latest bulletin from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the severe cyclonic storm lay centred over north coastal Odisha, near north-northwest of Dhamara and north-northwest of Habalikhati nature camp (Bhitarkanika).

“The landfall process continues and the rear sector of the cyclone is entering into land. The landfall process would continue for the next 1-2 hours. It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm by forenoon of today,” a bulletin of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) at 6:15 am, Friday (October 24, 2024) stated.

In various parts of Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas, waterlogging has been reported, compounding the misery of the affected residents. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but initial reports suggested the storm brought heavy rains, which continued into Friday morning, causing inundation in low-lying areas.

The state administration evacuated over 2.5 lakh people till Thursday evening in anticipation of the severe cyclonic storm 'Dana.' Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state had identified more than 3.5 lakh people for evacuation from low-lying areas. Banerjee, along with senior officials, camped at the state secretariat overnight to monitor the situation.

Thirteen battalions from the state's disaster management force and 14 battalions from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the coastal regions, officials said.