Cyclone Amphan, known to be one of the most severe storms of the Bay of Bengal is likely to hit this evening. Causing strong winds and heavy rains in various parts of Odisha and West Bengal, the storm is expected to cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatiya Islands.

Lakhs of people in Odisha and West Bengal were evacuated and shifted to safer locations.

According to Indian meteorological officials, Cyclone Amphan has now weakened from Super Cyclone to an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm and will have a wind speed varying between 155–165 km/hr when it landfall on Wednesday.

How India is prepared for the cyclone Amphan:

According to Indian National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials, a total of 37 teams have been deployed by NDRF in West Bengal and Odisha, out of which 20 teams are actively deployed and 17 are on standby in the two states.

Around 4.5 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas in West Bengal and Odisha ahead of cyclonic storm.

The cyclone comes as thousands of migrant workers flee cities for their villages during India’s lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. Therefore extra precautions of social distancing are being followed. The government has also distributed more than two lakhs of masks to the people.

Civic schools and community centres have been used as emergency shelters for the evacuees.

Indian railways have diverted all it’s trains away from the regions that are supposed to be affected by the Amphan.

Shramik special trains in West Bengal and Odisha have been cancelled.

Hundreds of police officials have been kept for backup in order to deal with any emergency.

Cyclone Amphan will be the first super-cyclonic storm that will hit the region after almost 20 years. In 1999, a super-cyclone hit the coast of Odisha, killing more than 9,000 people.