After Tauktae, coronavirus-hit India may be hit by another cyclone later this month — the remnants of which could trigger heavy showers in neighboring Bangladesh also.
Officials said that ‘Cyclone Yaas’ — a name given by the Gulf state of Oman — may be brewing over the Bay of Bengal around May 23 and could hit the eastern coast of India in another three-four days.
If the cyclone makes landfall in India, the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha are likely to bear its brunt, officials said.
“There is an early indication of such a system (low-pressure area) over the Bay of Bengal which may be clearly formed around May 23 and move towards Odisha and West Bengal,” Madhavan Rajeevan, Secretary to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, told the local media.
“It may hit the coast by May 27. Our models show the formation, but it would be clearer in a day or two,” the top weather department bureaucrat said.
Scientists at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) have also issued a warning. “The sea surface temperature is at 31 degrees above the Bay of Bengal, around 1-2 degrees Celsius above average, making oceanic and atmospheric conditions favourable for cyclone storm development,” Sunitha Devi, in-charge of cyclones at the IMD, told the media.
“In our outlook on cyclogenesis also, we have indicated that the low-pressure system can intensify. As soon as it comes in our forecast skill range we will mention it in our forecasts,” she said. Bangladesh is likely to experience heavy showers if Cyclone Yaas hits India.
The news comes close on the heels of Cyclone Tauktae — India’s first major tropical storm this season — which made landfall in the western state of Gujarat on May 17 with wind speeds of up to 165 kmph.
Since its landfall, the cyclone has ravaged the nearby states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, leaving 27 people dead and rendering thousands homeless. Northern Indian states, including national capital Delhi and Rajasthan, on Wednesday witnessed heavy rainfall due to the impact of the cyclone.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning reached the cyclone-hit state of Gujarat and the central government-territory of Daman and Diu to witness the damage by the cyclone. “He will conduct an aerial survey of the areas of Amreli, Gir Somnath and Bhavnagar districts hit by #CycloneTauktae,” Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani tweeted.
Cyclone Tauktae has added to the woes of Gujarat and Maharashtra, already struggling with a second wave of Covid-19 and an overwhelmed healthcare system. Hundreds of patients undergoing treatments at hospitals in coastal areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra have been shifted to medical facilities in safer areas by the governments of the two states.
