Cyclone ‘Bulbul’ likely to hit India-Bangladesh coast

Cyclone
Bulbul is likely to hit the Sunderban delta along the India-Bangladesh border
on Sunday with a wind speed of up to 135 km an hour, said India Meteorological
Department (IMD) officials.

The cyclone
will then lose some of its strength and become a ‘severe’ cyclonic storm,
again.

The ‘severe’
cyclonic storm Bulbul gathered strength and intensified further into a ‘very
severe’ cyclonic storm early on Friday morning.

The cyclone
is likely to escalate further and move northwards till early morning of
November 9. Thereafter, it is expected to re-curve northeast wards and cross
West Bengal – Bangladesh coasts between Sagar Islands (West Bengal) and
Khepupara (Bangladesh), across the Sunderbans delta during the early hours of
November 10.

Bulbul will
cross the coasts as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed
of 110 to 120 km an hour to 135 km an hour.

The IMD has said that north coastal districts of Odisha and coastal districts of West Bengal would receive light to moderate rainfall with heavy to very heavy rainfall in some areas.

Sea
condition would be very rough and a storm surge of 1 – 1.5 metres is likely to
inundate many low lying areas in the coastal areas of West Bengal during the
cyclone’s landfall.

Fishermen
have been advised not to enter into the sea, the IMD said that the storm could
damage mud houses, break branches of trees and snap power lines. The
governments of both states have been asked to restrict beach activities.

In West
Bengal, the authorities have already started advising people and fishermen in
coastal areas not to go near beaches and venture into the sea. Watch towers are
being constructed and warning messages are being spread through loudspeakers.

Around 8:45
am on Friday, the cyclone was located around 390 km south-southeast of Paradip
in Odisha and 530 km south-southwest of Sagar Islands in West Bengal. It was
moving with a speed of 10 km per hour.