Landfall process of Cyclone Fani begins, likely to last another 3 hours: IMD
Fani likely to hit West Bengal on May 3
India's Meteorological Department(IMD) said on Friday morning that the landfall impact of Cyclone Fani began two hours ago and is likely to last another three hours. The cyclone was about 40 km south-southwest of Puri in Odisha.
The cyclone will cross Odisha coast Gopalpur and Chandbali around Puri in the next three hours, it said.
Puri reported maximum sustained wind speed of 142 kmph gusting to 174 kmph, the IMD added.
Authorities in India's east coast in Odisha and West Bengal have evacuated more than one million people out of the path of the "extremely severe cyclone".
All major airports wereclosed on Friday morning in Odisha and West Bengal and the railway network virtually closed ahead of the arrival of the cyclone.
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Thousands of people in West Bengal have been evacuated to safer areas with special teams deployed in villages to ensure safety.
"We have heard that the cyclone has turned towards Bengal and it will also hit Kolkata. But people should not panic unnecessarily. All precautionary steps are being taken to prevent any loss of life," Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim said.
Ports around the east coast have been shut withIndian Navy ships deployed to carry out relief operations.
Cyclone Fani is the fourth major storm to slam into India's east coast in three decades, the last in 2017 when Cyclone Ockhi left nearly 250 people dead and more than 600 missing in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The worst cyclone on record in Odisha, in 1999, killed almost 10,000 people and caused an estimated $4.5 billion worth of devastation.