Cyclone Komen hits Bangladesh, triggers heavy rains in Bengal, Odisha
31 Jul 2015
The Cyclone Komen has made landfall in Bangladesh's Chittagong, triggering heavy rains in West Bengal and Odisha, as it moves westwards, losing some of its initial impact.
No losses have been reported so far. However, high alert has been sounded in the two states.
Komen, which is around 95 km south-southwest of Chittagong in Bangladesh, about 300km east-southeast of Kolkata, was expected to make landfall in Bangladesh's Chittagong area before moving westward.
Bangladesh authorities have evacuated thousands of people from the coastal areas of the country, especially in the Cox's Bazar area.
Bangladesh is concerned about landslides taking place in places over the hilly regions of Chittagong due to the heavy rainfall which will come along with the gusty wind.
Odisha is already battling floods in the five districts of Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Bhadrak and Balasore and the heavy rains could worsen the situation, officials say.
Winds with speed reaching 50 to 70kmph are expected along and off the Odisha coast and danger signal Number 5 has been sounded at all ports.
Officials of the five flood-hit districts have been told to stay prepared, said the state's water resource secretary PK Jena.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee cut short her visit to London to personally oversee relief operations in Kolkata.
The state government has already moved 26,000 people across seven districts to relief camps. The state has set up 227 relief camps. It also launched the emergency helpline number 1070 for monitoring flood situation.
In villages across the Sunderbans, which was hit badly by the cyclone Aila in May 2009, people have already moved to relief camps. Over 150 people have been killed in that cyclone
Regions around the Bay of Bengal are prone to some of the deadliest storms in history, like the 1970 cyclone that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh.
In 2013, one million people were forced to flee their homes when Cyclone Phailin hit India's southeast coast.
