Cyclone Dana: Schools to remain closed from October 23 to 26 in Bengal, extremely heavy rain expected

Cyclone Dana: Cyclone Dana has formed over the eastern-central Bay of Bengal. It is expected to continue north-westward, intensifying into a severe cyclone over the northwest Bay of Bengal by early Thursday. It was expected to reach the coasts of North Odisha and West Bengal between Puri and Sagar Island from Thursday night to Friday morning, with winds gusting up to 120 km/h, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The authorities have ordered the closure of schools in Odisha's 14 districts from Wednesday to Friday, as well as the evacuation of pilgrims and tourists from Puri and a ban of fishermen from entering the sea, as they prepare for the catastrophic cyclonic storm that is scheduled to strike late Thursday. 

The IMD has put rescue teams on standby, warning that high to extremely heavy rainfall and the storm in cyclone-prone Odisha might damage houses, roads, crops, and power lines, triggering flooding and landslides. 

A deep depression over the east-central Bay of Bengal travelled west-northwestward at 18 km/h for six hours before strengthening into Cyclone Dana. It was located around 560 kilometres southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 630 kilometres southeast of Sagar Island (West Bengal), and 630 kilometres southeast of Khepupara (Bangladesh).

On Wednesday, heavy rainfall (7-11 cm) is predicted in isolated areas of Odisha, including Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur, Puri, Khorda, Ganjam, and Gajapati. On Thursday and Friday, isolated areas in Odisha's Baleswar, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur, Kendujhar, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, and Puri districts, as well as West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas, East and West Medinipur, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata, and Bankura districts, are expected to receive extremely heavy rainfall (≥ 21 cm).