India: YAAS speculated to be as intense as Tauktae lay centred at 5:30 am on Monday near latitude 16.3°N and longitude 89.7°E, about 600 km north northwest of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 540 km south southeast of Pradip (Odisha), 650 km south southeast of Balasore (Odisha) and 630 km south southeast of Digha (West Bengal).
It is very likely to move slowly north-northwest awards, intensify further into a ‘severe cyclonic storm’ during next 24 hours and into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ during subsequent 24 hours forecasted IMD.
Nation Disaster Response Forces(NDRF) have been activated. Military and coast guards have also been put to action. Of 85 NDRF teams, 32 have been deployed in Bengal and 28 in Odisha. Some teams are also out in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stated NDRF chief SN Pradhan.
People have been evacuated from the low lying areas and fishermen have been cautioned against the storm. A control room will be set up in Upanna( West Bengal) for monitoring the cyclone. Home Minister Amit Shah connected with the CMs of the states under radar and took stock of the preparations. PM Modi held a high-level meet on Sunday to review the preparedness of the state and central agencies.
YAAS is expected to be about as intense as Cyclone Tauktae which slammed into the west coast last week but milder than Cyclone Amphan which hit Bengal exactly one year ago.