In view of the Cyclone Yaas, the Eastern railway has cancelled 25 trains, which run near the eastern coast of the country, from May 24 to May 29. The list of cancelled trains include Guwahati-Bangalore Cant, Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur, Ernakulam-Patna, New Tinsukia-Tambaram, Bhagalpur-Yesvantpur among others. The full list was shared on Twitter by the eastern railway.
Yaas, which has intensified into a “severe cyclonic” storm, is expected to hit the eastern coast of the country between north Odisha and West Bengal. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), it will make landfall on the evening of May 26 between Paradip in Odisha and Sagar islands in West Bengal. The weather department has warned that heavy rainfall is expected in the nearby regions.
“It will cross West Bengal and north Odisha coasts on the evening of May 26,” news agency ANI quoted IMD’s Director General of Meteorology, Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, as saying. As per the IMD advisory, the wind speed of the cyclone is predicted to be around 155-165 km per hour, gusting to 185 km per hour.
“This is a very largescale and damaging wind speed. It is almost similar to the wind speed of Cyclone Tauktae. Even Cyclone Amphan, which made landfall last year, had a similar wind speed,” Dr Mohapatra also said, ANI reported.
Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 personnel have been deployed in Odisha and West Bengal for rescue work. The navy and the air force have also kept dozens of aircraft on stand-by.