Cyclone Yaas Live Updates: Odisha airport resumes services post Cyclone Yaas landfall

Odisha Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena said two casualties were reported in Odisha due to Cyclone Yaas. The casualties have been from Balasore and Keonjhar districts. Balasore and Bhadrak are the most affected districts, according to Pradeep Jena. He said that the extent of damage to power infrastructure will be know by tomorrow morning while adding that the supply of drinking water has resumed through tankers.

Bhubaneswar Airport director has said that Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar became operational for flights from 7:00 pm on today. Earlier, it was to be shut till 5 am on May 27 due to cyclone Yaas. 

"There's not been much damage to electrical infrastructure in Jajpur, Kendrapara & Jagatsinghpur districts. Restoration process started & electricity dept also started safety checks of feeders. Adequate teams are available on field for road clearance & restoration,"  Odisha Special Relief commissioner Pradeep K Jena said.

"Now, rainfall is continuing in pockets in Nilagiri area of Balasore. Highest rainfall recorded was 304mm in Similipal area. We expect some bit of flash floods which may not be major. Collector Mayurbhanj started evacuation from areas adjacent to the Budhabalanga river," he added. 

"As per the latest report, they've already evacuated more than 1.05 lakh people & the operation is underway. We're keeping a close watch on wind velocity & damage in Mayurbhanj. We've seen large-scale uprooting of trees. Roads are being cleared continuously," he further said.

 West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has held review meeting to take stock of the situation arising due to Cyclone Yaas. The CM has also stated that she would visit the areas affected by Cyclone and high tide in Purba Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas on Friday.

The Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar has informed that Cyclone Yaas has completed the landfall process. However, Senior Scientist Umashankar Das informed that rainfall will continue and that fishermen are advised not to venture till Thursday morning because of rough sea conditions.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that Cyclone Yaas will weaken gradually into a severe cyclonic storm during next 3 hours and into cyclonic storm during subsequent 6 hours

Indian Air Force

As Cyclone Yaas is expected to make landfall, the Indian Air Force is continuing its assistance to NDRF to prepare for its effects. Towards this, on 25 May 21, a C-130 and two An-32 aircraft airlifted 102 passengers and 4.5 tons of cargo from Arakonnam to Kalaikunda. Another C-130 airlifted 62 passengers and 6.8 tons of cargo from Lilabari to Kolkata. In addition, 2 IAF An-32 aircraft have been deployed for airlifting 41 passengers and 4 tons of cargo from Lilabari to Panagarh.

Indian Navy 

The Indian Navy has been closely monitoring the Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Yaas closing in on the Eastern Coast which is likely to cross the between Badrak and Balasore districts on 26 May.  INS Chilka at Khurda has stepped up and made all necessary arrangements, to coordinate the rescue and relief operations in close liaison with State Government agencies with the support of Headquarters Eastern Naval Command Visakhapatnam.

Towards this a 24x7 cyclone monitoring team has been established and is functional from 24 May.  Assorted relief material and community kitchen for thousand of people are being made ready for immediate deployment in consultation with state authorities. The Naval Officer-in-Charge(Odisha) Operations Room has been monitoring ships movement along the coast in coordination with authorities at Gopalpur, Paradip and Damara ports. For maintaining constant communication with the Naval and civil authorities, constant liaison is underway from INS Chilka.

Indian Army

To provide immediate support to people in the emerging situation due to Cyclone Yaas, briefing, joint recce, liaison and coordination with WB govt has been completed. In addition, rescue and relief columns are pre-positioned across areas expected to be affected for immediate response. Meanwhile, in East Midnapore, one rescue column has been launched to rescue 32 civilians who are stuck due to a surge in water levels

The NDRF which is engaged in the rescue and relief operations amid Cyclone Yaas in Odisha has rescued a six-month-old baby and an old lady. Additionally, two more members of the family were rescued from their home which was made of Clay. According to reports, they were not able to move due to the inclement weather. The family was later shifted to a cyclone shelter. 

The Cyclone Yaas is currently crossing the Odisha border, south of Balasore, informed IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra. In addition, he also stated that it will reach Jharkhand on Thursday morning. 

In order to provide immediate support to people in the emerging situation due to Cyclone Yaas,  briefing, joint recce, liaison and coordination with West Bengal state government has been completed. Rescue and Relief columns are pre-positioned across areas expected to be affected for immediate response.  Meanwhile, in East Midnapore, one rescue column has been launched to rescue 32 civilians who are stuck due to a surge in water levels.

As the landfall process of Cyclone Yaas commenced around 9 am, water from sea entered the residential areas along New Digha Sea Beach in East Midnapore. 

Here's how you can live track Cyclone Yaas on Skymet: 

As Cyclone Yaas is expected to make landfall, the Indian Air Force is continuing its assistance to NDRF to prepare for its effects. On Tuesday, a C-130 and two An-32 aircraft airlifted 102 passengers and 4.5 tons of cargo from Arakonnam to Kalaikunda. Another C-130 airlifted 62 passengers and 6.8 tons of cargo from Lilabari to Kolkata. In addition, two IAF An-32 aircraft have also been deployed for airlifting 41 passengers and 4 tons of cargo from Lilabari to Panagarh.

The Indian Navy has provided relief material for people affected by Cyclone Yaas. INS Chilka at Khurda has made all arrangements to coordinate the operations with state government agencies. In addition, it will also work with the support of the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.

All flyovers in Kolkata have been closed by the city's police force owing to bad weather conditions. Some of the flyovers that have been closed are:

• Garden Reach flyover
• Taratala flyover
• Park Street flyover
• Ultadanga flyover
• Chingrighata flyover
• Gariahat flyover
• AJC Bose flyover
• Maa flyover

Ahead of Cyclone Yaas' landfall on Wednesday, Chandipur in Odisha's Balasore district has started experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds. 

Barrackpore in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district has witnessed a weather change owing to Cyclone Yaas. The city is currently receiving light to moderate rainfall along with the wind.

According to Skymet, the forward peripherals of the storm have already reached Odisha and West Bengal as the two states have started witnessing heavy rains with gale speed winds along their coastline. 

Ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Yaas, a tornado has hit West Bengal's North 24 Parganas District and damaged around 80 houses in Naihati and Halisahar due to strong winds. In addition, it also being reported that 2 people have been killed.