Heavy rain and strong wind battered coastal Odisha districts as the super cyclone Amphan hurtled towards the coast on Wednesday morning. Trees were uprooted and power infrastructure suffered damage following strong wind.

The port town of Paradip recorded the highest wind speed of 106 kmph followed by Chandbali with 74 kmph, Balasore 59 kmph and Bhubaneswar 56 kmph.  The cyclone is expected to have maximum impact between noon and evening.

Here are the latest updates:

Amphan likely to bring isolated rain to coastal A.P.

Even as the super cyclonic storm Amphan spared the State, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam are likely to experience isolated heavy falls under its influence during the next 24 hours, the meteorology officials said on Tuesday.

The weather system over the Bay of Bengal moved north-east wards and lay centred as an extremely severe cyclonic storm 360 km off Paradip in Odisha and 510 km off Digha in West Bengal on Tuesday.

Cargo flight operations at Kolkata Airport suspended till 5 a.m. Thursday

Cargo and evacuation flight operations at the Kolkata airport have been suspended till 5 am of Thursday due to the cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’, airport officials said.

“Due to the cyclone, flight operations at Kolkata airport has been suspended till 5 am of May 21,” a senior airport official said.

The cyclone lay centred about 240 km south of Digha in West Bengal on Wednesday morning as an extremely severe cyclonic storm, the Met department said here.

Howrah-New Delhi AC Special Express cancelled

The departure of Howrah-New Delhi AC Special Express for Wednesday has been cancelled owing to the super cyclone ‘Amphan’, the Eastern Railway said here.

It said that since the system is most likely to cause heavy rain and storm, the departure of 02301 Howrah-New Delhi AC Special Express on Wednesday and 02302 New Delhi-Howrah AC Special Express on May 21 would remain cancelled.

The Met department in an advisory asked for stoppage or diversion of train movements owing to damage likely to be caused by the super cyclonic storm. - PTI

Did the coronavirus lockdown have an impact on the cyclone?

Higher than normal temperatures in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) may be whetting ‘super cyclones’ and the lockdown, indirectly, may have played a role, meteorologists and atmospheric science experts told The Hindu.

A researcher said the elevated ocean temperatures this year could, in part, be explained by the lockdown. Reduced particulate matter emissions during the lockdown meant fewer aerosols, such as black carbon, that are known to reflect sunlight and heat away from the surface.

Migrant trains to Bengal, Odisha cancelled in view of cyclone

As a precautionary measure in the backdrop of ‘Amphan’ cyclone, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday announced that three Shramik Special trains for West Bengal and Odisha have been cancelled till May 21.

These trains were to carry migrant workers to West Bengal and Odisha. Further announcement regarding running these trains will be taken after assessing the weather and other necessary conditions, said an official.

- PTI