[blackwasp]

The extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan (pronounced 'UM-PUN') on Monday turned into a super cyclonic storm and is spiralling towards Indian shores, prompting West Bengal and Odisha governments to start evacuating people from vulnerable areas, officials said. According to the Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD's) update at 10:30 pm, Amphan was centred around 790 km south of Paradip in Odisha, 940 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal and 1,060 km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh.

Howling winds travelling at a speed of 230-240 kmph and gusting to 265 kmph were witnessed over west-central and adjoining parts of south Bay of Bengal on Monday night. It was likely to increase further to 240-250 kmph and gusting to 275 kmph overnight and early morning today, per the IMD update.

The coastal areas of Odisha — namely, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore — were likely to experience heavy rainfall accompanied by high-velocity winds, particularly today and tomorrow, IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea till May 21, added Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena. The met department, which has also issued an "orange message" for West Bengal, warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts.

However, the IMD forecast that the storm will lose some of its intensity on the way and slam West Bengal as a very severe cyclonic storm during the landfall between Digha in the state and Hatiya islands in Bangladesh tomorrow evening. It will still have a maximum sustained wind speed of 165-175 kmph, gusting up to 185 kmph. "Storm surge of 4-5 m above astronomical tide is likely to inundate low lying areas of South and North 24 Parganas and about 3-4 m over low-lying areas of East Midnapore district of West Bengal during the time of landfall," IMD's regional director GK Das said in Kolkata.

PM Modi took stock of the situation and reviewed the evacuation plan presented by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Monday. The NDRF director general informed that 25 NDRF teams have been deployed on the ground, while 12 others are ready in reserve. 24 other teams are also on standby in different parts of the country.

This is the first time that super cyclones have been recorded in two consecutive years — Kyarr (October 2019) and now Amphan. It is also the first super cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal after the 1999 super cyclone, which impacted coastal Odisha, claiming nearly 10,000 lives. The state was also battered by cyclone Fani last May.

Source

[Thad E Ginathom]

What is the expectation and preparation in WB? It must be nearly there by now?

All the very best to those to those in its path, and to those who have to leave homes in its path.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

What is the expectation and preparation in WB? It must be nearly there by now?

All the very best to those to those in its path, and to those who have to leave homes in its path.

Inhabitants in coastal areas are being evacuated and the NDRF is on the ground.

It has been drizzling in Kolkata since afternoon with occasional gusts. The portents are ominous. My heart goes out for the folks in coastal areas, including those in the sunderbans. The ecologically sensitive zone was battered last year too by super cyclone family

https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le31623605.ece

[Shreyans_Jain]

My god look at the size of that thing! Never know super cyclones are actually that big. Heart goes out to the people in Bengal and Orissa who are going to bear the brunt in these Corona affected times.

Genuine question: how do they expect people to maintain social distancing or other SOPs that have been mandated for COVID inside storm shelters?

[Nissan1180]

Stay safe.
Here is a link to track the live progress of the cyclone using sattelite imaging.
https://zoom.earth/storms/amphan-2020/

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

My god look at the size of that thing! Never know super cyclones are actually that big.

Even ordinary cyclones are huge. And scary.

[hothatchaway]

The storm was devastating, it was as if a demon was toying with the trees.

The districts of North and South 24 parganas have been badly hit but fortunately with few deaths as I can gather. Parts of Kolkata are without power as many trees have fallen. The areas that do have power is a testament to CESC, the local power utility.

The wind has dropped in the past one hour, hope the worst is over.

[JithinR]

Saw this on twitter.

https://twitter.com/NishitShawHere/s...374686210?s=19

[Miyata]

Wonder what the (electric) power situation is in Kolkata at this time of the cyclone.

What I recollect from my visits to the city is something incredibly unlike Bangalore - While in Bangalore the power gets cut even with so much as a whiff of rain in the horizon, not so in Kolkata. Rains may be pouring down wildly in Kolkata, the power is hardly interrupted.

[Raj_RD]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Wonder what the (electric) power situation is in Kolkata at this time of the cyclone.

What I recollect from my visits to the city is something incredibly unlike Bangalore - While in Bangalore the power gets cut even with so much as a whiff of rain in the horizon, not so in Kolkata. Rains may be pouring down wildly in Kolkata, the power is hardly interrupted.

It's still drizzling. God knows how many trees and electric poles have been uprooted due to the storm(Many cars damaged). Kolkata is still in knee-deep water. Telecommunication, electric supply is down in most parts of the city. Only Jio and Bsnl is working in my case. Can't even make a phone call via Vodafone or Airtel.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Wonder what the (electric) power situation is in Kolkata at this time of the cyclone.

What I recollect from my visits to the city is something incredibly unlike Bangalore - While in Bangalore the power gets cut even with so much as a whiff of rain in the horizon, not so in Kolkata. Rains may be pouring down wildly in Kolkata, the power is hardly interrupted.

Last evening, during the storm, the power supply in my area in South Kolkata was disrupted only for a few minutes before resuming. This was when the storm was raging in all it's fury.

Power did get disrupted in many areas in Kolkata and understandably so. Numerous trees and traffic posts have toppled and some streets are still waterlogged. The districts especially bore the brunt of the fury of 130 kph winds. Early estimates put the number of casualties to around 12. Villages in coastal and low lying areas were evacuated on Tuesday which has helped.

People were already reeling under lockdown, and now this.

[AbhiJ]

My poor car..



Discovered this today morning.... :(

Any idea how much damage to expect?

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

My poor car..

Attachment 2008373

Discovered this today morning.... :(

Any idea how much damage to expect?

Water may not have entered the engine bay. Please don't wade into the water as there could be loose power lines. Call the KMC helpline and wait for the water to drain or at least have it confirmed that there is no threat before wading into it.

Once you can safely access the car check the interiors and pop the boot and the bonnet to check. Once the water level is below the exhaust/ air intake you may try and start the engine.

I don't think there would have been much damage.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Wonder what the (electric) power situation is in Kolkata at this time of the cyclone.

What I recollect from my visits to the city is something incredibly unlike Bangalore - While in Bangalore the power gets cut even with so much as a whiff of rain in the horizon, not so in Kolkata. Rains may be pouring down wildly in Kolkata, the power is hardly interrupted.

That's not exactly a feather in Blore's cap! The reason why power is shut down in Blore in even the slightest of rains, is bcoz an overwhelming majority of Blore domestic power supply is via overhead bare cables, often running within 3 feet of one's window. Very dangerous, besides many other negatives (enables power theft, increases distribution losses even if not for theft, looks ugly, very unreliable, poles take space of footpath, etc).

In Mumbai, it is 100% underground cabling, so power is never ever shutdown even in very severe storms.

Dunno about Kolkata. Being British planned originally like Mumbai, I thought even Kolkata might be similar.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Dunno about Kolkata. Being British planned originally like Mumbai, I thought even Kolkata might be similar.

In Kolkata too a substantial portion of the electric supply line is underground, especially in the newly developed parts of the city. As I mentioned, power supply in my locality remained uninterrupted barring a few minutes of outage. This was during winds exceeding 100 kph accompanied by torrential downpour. When I checked early morning today, found many trees to be uprooted, but power is on.

However certain parts of the city don't have power and that is to be expected as numerous poles are uprooted. Per my understanding, even if it's otherwise underground, the last mile supply to households happen via poles, which have been uprooted in many areas.

Agree wrt Bangalore where I have lived for many years. Power was switched off at the hint of a drizzle.