Cyclone Yaas: Kolkata, among other districts to receive moderate rainfall

Kolkata, May 27: In a recent development, West Bengal's Kolkata, East and West Medinipur districts are likely to receive moderate rainfall and experience thunderstorm with lightning during the wee hours on Thursday.

"Thunderstorm with lightning and light to moderate rainfall are likely to affect parts of Kolkata, East and West Medinipur districts of West Bengal during next 1 to 2 hours from 5:55 am on Thursday," according to Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Kolkata.

"The cyclonic storm Yaas weakend into a deep depression and lay centred at 23:30 hours IST of the May 26 over south Jharkhand and adjoining north interior Odisha. It is likely to move northwestwards and weaken gradually into a depression during next 12 hours," India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand remains on high alert and has evacuated about 12,000 people to safer zones while operations are still on to minimise damage from the cyclone that pounded neighbouring Odisha and West Bengal, officials said Wednesday.

The state has imposed a complete lockdown in some parts to prevent people from venturing out in view of the storm while as many as eight lakh people have already been impacted by it.

Cyclone Yaas, packing winds of up to 130-145 kmph, whiplashed the country's eastern coasts on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain, damaging houses and farmlands, and leaving at least four persons dead - three in Odisha and one in Bengal.

Operations are being executed on a war-footing in the vulnerable areas in East and West Singhbhum, besides some other districts due to cyclonic storm Yaas, Disaster Management Secretary Amitabh Kaushal said. Kaushal said at least eight lakh people are impacted by it in Simdega, East and West Singhbhums and Saraikela-Kharsawan districts.

"We have evacuated 10,767 persons to 310 shelter homes sites and the evacuation operations are on. A total of 848 of our villages are impacted by it. We are doing our best to prevent any casualty," East Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Suraj Kumar said.

Kumar said the district is witnessing heavy rainfall, high speed winds and there has been damage to the power transmission network besides trees have been uprooted.