Cyclone Yass: Odisha's Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Balasore likely to be worst hit, says IMD

Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak and Balasore districts are likely to be worst affected by the cyclonic storm Yaas which will reach the state on May 26, Umashankar Das, Deputy Director of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Bhubaneswar on Sunday said. "We are expecting that the well-marked low-pressure area over the east-central Bay of Bengal will concentrate into a depression during next 12 hours and by tomorrow (May 24), it is going to be a cyclonic storm and will continue to move in the north north-westward direction and on May 26 it will reach Odisha, West Bengal, and Bangladesh coast," Umashankar Das told ANI.

"The North Odisha districts, particularly Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, and Balasore are expected to most affected," Das said. The Deputy Director of IMD Bhubaneswar informed that Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khordha, and Puri are expected to receive heavy to heavy rainfall on May 25.

"On May 26, we are expecting extremely heavy rainfall at Mayurbhanj and Balasore," he added. The IMD had earlier predicted that the cyclonic storm Yaas will hit the coasts of Odisha and West Bengal on May 26 and both the states will experience heavy rainfall from May 22 to 26.

The head of Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Kolkata Dr Sanjib Bandyopadhyay had earlier advised the fishermen of West Bengal not to venture into the sea from May 23 evening, and advised those who are in the deep sea to return to the coast by May 23 morning, in view of Cyclone Yaas.