The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday informed that the severe cyclonic storm Yaas will gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm during the next three hours.
"The severe cyclonic storm Yaas (pronounced as Yass) lay centered at 1530 hours IST of May 26, 2021, over northeast Odisha near latitude 21.65 degrees North and longitude 86.65 degrees East, about 30 kilometers West-Northwest of Balasore with a wind speed of 85-95 kilometers per hours gusting to 105 kilometers per hour and 30 kilometers South-Southwest of Baripada," the weather department informed.
"It is likely to move Northwestwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm during the next three hours," it added.
Yaas, which was classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, hit the coast north of Dhamra in Odisha's Bhadrak district and 50 kilometers south of Balasore, close to Bahanaga block, around 9 am.
The cyclone will reach Jharkhand tomorrow, according to the weather department.
The landfall has created widespread damage in different areas of East Midnapore and the coastal areas of South 24 Parganas. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who has been in the control room all through the night and has been monitoring the storm personally said, "We have evacuated more than 15 lakh people and the process of evacuation is still on".
Meanwhile, Odisha shifted 5.8 lakh people to safer places, while West Bengal moved 15 lakh people ahead of the cyclone. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that 10 million people were affected by the cyclone in the state and 3 lakh houses were damaged due to the cyclone.