Cyclone Yaas spurs massive evacuation

Bhubaneswar/Kolkata/Ranchi: West Bengal and Odisha have evacuated lakhs of people from vulnerable areas to safety as severe cyclonic storm 'Yaas' is nearing the coast and is expected to make landfall near Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district early on Wednesday morning.Neighbouring Jharkhand has also sounded an alert and is preparing for the cyclone's impact. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that her administration has evacuated over nine lakh people to safe shelters.

The Odisha government, on the other hand, said it has moved over 2 lakh people from vulnerable areas in coastal districts to safety. IMD Director General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that 'Yaas' is likely to intensify into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) by Tuesday evening.

He said the cyclone's impact will be severe for six hours before and after the landfall and Chandbali will witness the maximum damage. Dr Umashankar Das, a scientist at the Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar said that the landfall will most likely be between Dhamra and Chandbali in Odisha's Bhadrak district.

Banerjee said over 74,000 officers and workers and over 2 lakh policemen and civic volunteers have been deployed to mitigate the natural calamity in West Bengal.