Cyclone 'Pabuk': 7 districts in Odisha on alert

The Odisha government has put seven districts on alert in view of cyclonic activities in the South China Sea.

In this regard, the Revenue and Disaster management department of the Odisha government issued an advisory on January 3.

"A cyclonic storm Pabuk lay centered at 0830 hours IST of 03rd January 2019 over South China Sea near latitude 6.0°N and longitude 105.0° E, about 1500 km east-southeast of Port Blair. It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and emerge into Andaman sea around the forenoon of 05th January 2019. Thereafter, it is very likely to move northwestwards and cross Andaman islands around evening/ night of 06th January. Thereafter, it is very likely to move north-northwestwards and then recurve northeastwards towards Myanmar coast and weaken further during 7th -8th January, 2019," the advisory read.

The Special Relief Commissioner asked collectors of seven districts including, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Ganjam and Khurda to stay alert and monitor the situation.

There is no specific warning that has been issued for fishermen till now, however, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has advised fishermen not to venture into the deep sea.

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A severe cyclone, Phethai, hit the Andhra Pradesh coast on December 17 afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned about it in its latest weather forecast. It was the fourth cyclone to hit the eastern coast and comes about a month after cyclone Gaja hit the Tamil Nadu coast on 16 November, causing a massive destruction. Earlier, cyclone Daye and very severe cyclone Titli ravaged coastal areas in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

“In the current season itself, the eastern coast has witnessed three cyclonic storms— cyclone Daye, Titli, and Gaja. Now, one is forecast. It is the first time since 1985 when seven cyclones have hit the Indian coast in a year,” said M. Mohapatra, senior scientist and head, services, IMD.

The weather department said that the depression intensified into a deep depression and lay centred over the southeast Bay of Bengal about 930km east-southeast of Chennai and 1,090km south-southeast of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. 

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