Severe Cyclonic storm “Remal” likely to make landfall tonight

New Delhi: The Cyclonic Storm “Remal” intensified into a Severe Cyclonic Storm and is expected to make landfall between West Bengal’s Sagar Island and Bangladesh’s Khepupara on Sunday night, the IMD said.

The Severe Cyclonic Storm is expected to attain the maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph. This will be the first cyclone of the pre-monsoon season.

The Met office has warned of extremely heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal and north Odisha on Sunday. Parts of northeast India may also experience extremely heavy precipitation on May 27-28.

A storm surge of up to 1.5 metres is expected to inundate low-lying areas of coastal West Bengal and Bangladesh at the time of landfall.

The weather office advised fishermen not to venture into the sea in the north Bay of Bengal until Monday morning.

A red alert was issued for the coastal districts of South and North 24 Parganas in West Bengal for May 26-27, where extremely heavy rain is expected in some areas.

An orange alert is in place for Kolkata, Howrah, Nadia, and Purba Medinipur districts, warning of wind speeds of 80 to 90 kmph, gusting to 100 kmph, and heavy to very heavy rainfall at some places on May 26-27.

In north Odisha, the coastal districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, and Kendrapara will receive heavy rains on May 26-27, while heavy precipitation is likely in Mayurbhanj on May 27.

The IMD has warned of localised flooding and significant damage to vulnerable structures, power and communication lines, kutcha roads, crops, and orchards in South and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport will shut flight operations from 1200 IST on May 26 to 0900 IST on Monday due to predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Calcutta in the wake of cyclone Remal, the airport authorities posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday evening.

The National Disaster Response Force has stationed 12 teams. In Arambagh in Hooghly, Digha (two teams) and Contai in East Midnapore, Narayangarh and Dantan in West Midnapore, Hasnabad and Basirhat in North 24-Parganas, Kakdwip, Gosaba and Sagar Islands in South 24 Parganas and another team at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Calcutta.