Balasore/Digha/Ranchi, May 26

Yaas weakened into a severe cyclonic storm on Wednesday afternoon after pounding the beach towns in north Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal with a wind speed of 130-145 kmph, inundating the low-lying areas amid a storm surge even as the two eastern states battled the Covid crisis, officials said.

Yaas, which was earlier classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, hit the coast north of Dhamra in Odisha’s Bhadrak district and 50 km south of Balasore, close to Bahanaga block, around 9 am, they said.

The landfall process was over around 1.30 pm, they added. The storm killed three persons. Seawater entered several villages in Bahanaga and Remuna blocks in the Balasore district, and Dhamra and Basudevpur in the Bhadrak district, Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said. The administration with the help of the locals took measures to drain out the saline water from the villages, he said. Heavy rain in the Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district sparked fears of a flash flood in the Budhabalang river.

The weather office has forecast extremely heavy rain in East and West Midnapore districts and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Jhargram, Bankura, South 24 Parganas districts over the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, Jharkhand remains on high alert and has evacuated over 10,000 people to safer zones, while operation is still on. — PTI