Eye of Cyclone ‘Amphan’ about to touch land: IMD

New Delhi, May 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) The eye of Cyclone 'Amphan' is about to touch land, India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday, after the landfall process of the cyclone commenced in the afternoon.

Landfall process commenced near Sundarbans in West Bengal at 2.30 p.m. The forward sectors of the wall cloud region have hit land and the process, the IMD said, will continue for four hours.

It will cross the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha in West Bengal's East Medinipur district and Hatiya Island in Bangladesh.

"First arm of the cyclone has touched the land. Its eye is expected to touch land anytime soon," IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said at a press briefing.

He also said that winds with speeds of over 160 km per hour have started to blow in West Bengal.

Storm surge during the landfall in West Bengal is expected to be four to six metres above astronomical tide. The surge is expected to inundate low-lying areas of South and North 24 Parganas and parts of East Medinipur district, he said.

Meanwhile, as many as five lakh people in West Bengal and 1.5 lakh in Odisha have been evacuated as per the data submitted by the state governments, the National Disaster Response Force said on Wednesday.

Director General S.N. Pradhan said: "NDRF has deployed 20 teams in Odisha and 19 in West Bengal. Two teams are on standby."

He said that 24 additional teams are on hot-standby and can be air-lifted within 15 minutes, if the need arises. Rest of the teams in the two states are engaged in road clearance and restoration.

Pradhan added, "We are dealing with the cyclone in the context of Covid-19. This is the part of the new normal."

Source: IANS