Thousands evacuated in WB ahead of cyclone

Kolkata, December 4

The West Bengal Government on Saturday evacuated about 18,000 people in coastal South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts and asked tourists at sea resorts to stay away from beaches, even as the MeT Department said that Cyclone Jawad, which looms large over the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast, would turn into a deep depression when it reaches Bengal and trigger heavy rains in coastal areas.

The weather office said several places in the metropolis, North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Howrah and Hooghly districts had received light rainfall since Saturday.

The government has evacuated 17,900 people from the two coastal districts and opened at least 48 relief camps and shelters in the wake of the cyclone warnings. “There is, however, little possibility of Jawad turning into a cyclonic storm when it reaches the Bengal coastline on Sunday before heading towards Bangladesh,” said Alipore MeT Office Director Sanjib Bandopadhayay.

“It will become a deep depression and trigger rains across south Bengal and heavy rains in some coastal areas,” he said.

There would be heavy to very heavy rainfall in some parts of coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purbo Medinipur and light to moderate rain in other parts of the two districts. Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur and North 24 Parganas would see light to moderate rain on December 5, Bandopadhay said. — PTI