Cyclone Yaas ravages through Odisha

On May 26, 2021, Cyclone Yaas made landfall north of Dhamara and south of Balasore, near the Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha. The landfall of the very severe cyclonic storm started at 9 am and it lasted for more than three hours.

The wind speed during landfall was 130-140 kilometres per hour (kmph), gusting to 155 kmph. The coastal districts of Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, and Balasore have been badly hit by the impact of the cyclone.

The Bhitarkanika National Park, the second-largest mangrove forest in India, has also been badly hit. Yaas unleashed heavy rain and windstorms, blowing away thatched houses, uprooting trees, electric poles and swamping low-lying towns and villages.

Odisha has evacuated more than 500,000 people to safer places so far. The tidal waves rose 1-2 metres high and caused extensive damage to farmlands. The saline water breached many embankments and inundated fields and houses.

Yaas has now weakened into a severe cyclone and it will weaken into a cyclonic storm in the next six hours. Cyclone Yaas is more powerful than Cyclone Fani in 2019 and Cyclone Amphan in 2020.