Cyclone fear grips Odisha after IMD forecast of low pressure in north Andaman Sea

Bhubaneswar: October is a cruel month for Odisha and its people are gripped with the fear of yet another possible cyclone during the period as the IMD Thursday forecast that low pressure is likely to brew in North Andaman Sea.   

The low-pressure area is very likely to form around October 10, 2021, and become more marked and move west northwestwards towards south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh during the subsequent four to five days, the IMD said its bulletin. 

Different weather models have, however, created fear among the people as October is considered the 'cyclone month' for the state.

Most of the major cyclones that hit the Odisha coast took place in October. The super cyclone, the most powerful by far to hit the country, had made its landfall near Paradip and killed about 10,000 people on October 29, 1999. Cyclones Phailin, Hudhud and Titli all took place in the same month in 2013, 2014 and 2018 respectively, an official of the Special Relief Commissioner's office said.

Cyclone Gulab made landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and affected several districts of southern Odisha in September this year, he said.

Sarat Sahu, a former director of the Met office here, said while the present weather situation appears to be conducive for a cyclone, it is premature to say anything about it so early. A conclusion can be drawn only on October 13. 

The present director of the Meteorological Center, H R Biswas too said that nothing can be said about the possible cyclone now. 

"One can make a forecast only after the formation of a low pressure," he said.         

The coastal state also witnessed summer cyclones in the month of May twice. Amphan in May 2020 and Yaas in May 2021. 

Generally, there are two cyclone seasons in Odisha - one during the pre-monsoon period (April, May and June up to the onset of monsoon) and another post-monsoon (October to December). More cyclones occur during the post-monsoon season, Sahu said. 

He said according to the available data Odisha was hit by 98 cyclones between 1891 to 2000, followed by Andhra Pradesh which saw 79 cyclones. West Bengal was hit by 69 cyclones, Tamil Nadu by 62, Karnataka by two, Maharastra and Goa by 18, Gujarat 28 and Kerala by three. 

The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has written to all the district collectors asking them to closely monitor the situation and circulate the IMD forecast among the people. 

It also directed the district authorities to take actions as deemed necessary in case of any eventuality. 

Meanwhile, the IMD has issued Yellow Warning' (To be updated) till 8.30 am on October 9 due to the cyclonic circulation related to the withdrawal of the monsoon. The districts which have been asked to remain prepared till 8.30 AM on Friday are Sundargarh, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Balasore.

Malkangiri, Koraput, Nawarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Gajapati and Ganjam districts were asked by IMD to be prepared for heavy rains due to the same reason till October 9 morning.