Yaas moves inland, leaving a trail of destruction in it’s wake.
Yaas is now moving inland after making landfall near the state border of Odisha and West Bengal this morning as an 85 mph (135 kph) category one cyclone (1-min winds) according to Force Thirteen and as a 75 mph (120 kph) very severe cyclonic storm (3-min winds) according to the Indian Meteorological Department. Currently, the storm is 47 miles (75 Km) west-northwest of Balasore and 28 miles (45 Km) west of Baripada with Force Thirteen currently having the storm as a 50 mph (80 kph) tropical storm (1-min winds) and the IMD currently have the storm as a 45 mph (72 kph) cyclonic storm (3-min winds), both expect Yaas to further weaken over the next 48 hours.
Early reports from the landfall area describe conditions during the storm’s passage as severe with high winds causing numerous trees to fall and flooding from both storm surge and rainfall inundating several towns in Odisha and West Bengal
The effect… pic.twitter.com/aDRDP5vkcy
— CHINMAYA KUMAR NAYAK (@Er_MrNayak) May 26, 2021
Cyclone Yaas Update, পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুর জেলার ঘাটাল মহকুমার মনসুকা এলাকায় ভেঙে গেল বাঁশের সাঁকো#cycloneyaas #CycloneYaasUpdates #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/jW3CDxTeyx
— Asianetnews Bangla (@AsianetNewsBN) May 26, 2021
As of 19:00 IST, 4 people have been confirmed dead as a result of Yaas with 2 each in Odisha and West Bengal. Rescue and recovery operations are now underway in the affected coastal districts as current conditions have become conducive enough for such operations to be conducted “The teams are removing them from roads to keep communication lines clear and this process is still on. Rescuers are making all-out efforts to bring normalcy in the affected areas,” Said a spokesperson for India’s National Disaster Response Force.
#IndianArmy at rescue….🙏
May they be successful may all be safe….#CycloneYass #Cyclone #WestBengal#Odisha pic.twitter.com/e7APOxVNzh— Jaya 💕 (@jaya_basak) May 26, 2021
The Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik has announced seven days of relief efforts for families in the 128 marooned villages located in the districts that are most severely affected by Yaas, while the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee will reportedly make an aerial survey of her state to make an early estimate of the total cost as an estimated 300,000 buildings are damaged with the overall number of people that are affected by Yaas’ passage being over 10 million.
Meanwhile in Bangladesh, 3 people were said to be injured as the outer bands of the storm lashed Armukhi village in Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila, 50 houses were also damaged in a two-kilometre area stretching from Kutipara to Pashchimpara.
As the storm weakens over the next 48 hours rainfall will still be a huge concern for the region as up to 4 inches (100 mm) of rainfall could still fall on the region as the storm slowly moves northward before dissipating, for that reason residents of the affected areas must remain aware of the latest developments regarding the storm so that no potential life-saving information will be missed.
Sources:
http://www.rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in/uploads/archive/48/48_9c02c5_24.%20Hourly%20Bulletin%20261400%20UTC.pdf
https://www-aljazeera-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/5/26/cyclone-yaas-very-severe-storm-makes-landfall-on-indian-coast?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16220369353414&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2021%2F5%2F26%2Fcyclone-yaas-very-severe-storm-makes-landfall-on-indian-coast
https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/rescue-clearing-operations-underway-cyclone-yaas-hit-odisha-west-bengal-ndrf-707211
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/yaas-cyclone-yaas-live-updates-cyclone-yaas-landfall-live-may-26-odisha-paradip-balasore-landfall-live-puri-bhadrak-bhubaneswar-bengal-kolkata-digha-sagar-island-imd-cyclone-weather-live/2258708/
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2021/05/26/3-injured-50-houses-destroyed-in-storm-ahead-of-yaas
Featured image by INSAT-3DR