The effect of Cyclone Yaas that wreaked havoc in the beach towns in north Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, has reached neighbouring states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Nearly, 21 districts of Uttar Pradesh witnessed heavy rainfall Thursday and strong winds were blowing at a speed of 40 km. As per reports, even though the Cyclone has now weakened into a “deep depression”, the storm still has enough moisture to soak east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and adjoining areas till Friday. Meteorologists say that the weather will remain the same till Saturday due to the effect of the storm. There may be light rain drizzle in several places across Bihar and UP on Friday.
In Uttar Pradesh, different parts of Ballia, Mau, Deoria, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Chandoli, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Ambedkarnagar, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Prayagraj, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Ayodhya received light drizzle on Thursday.
Meanwhile, in Bihar, the most affected districts are Gaya, Auranganad, Lakhisarai, Shaikehpura, Nawada, Banka, Bhagalpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Bhojpur, and Buxar. Besides, Purnea, Araria, Katihar, Madhepura, and Saharsa are also impacted. Heavy rainfall, with strong winds having speed of 30 to 40 kmph, is currently underway in south, southeast and central districts of Bihar and is expected to intensify from Thursday night till Friday. Rain with thunderstorm and lightning are expected in these two days.
The Meteorological Department has predicted that Yaas would be expected to reach Patna by late Thursday. Patna is witnessing heavy rainfall with strong winds of speed of 30 kmph now and this is expected to intensify.
“We have predicted 225 mm to 250 mm rainfall in those districts. The district administrations of Patna, Vaishali, and Saran were alerted to warn villages situated on the bank of Ganga river. The water level of Ganga is expected to increase and is likely to enter low-lying areas. It would be a flood-like situation in Bihar before the monsoon,” a Met department official, who requested anonymity, said.
The Met Department has recorded around 70 mm rain fall in Gaya and adjoining districts of Bihar. “We have alerted people of Bihar to stay indoors until Yaas crosses the state. The next 48 hours are very crucial for Bihar despite the intensity of Yaas weakening now,” he said.