india

Updated: May 08, 2020 21:33 IST

As Cyclone Fani approaches Odisha’s coast ahead of making landfall, the Indian Navy, which has been following the cyclone’s progress both on water and via satellite.

In a series of tweets, the Navy showed the strength with which Cyclone Fani had disturbed the seas as well as its progress across the Bay of Bengal towards Odisha.

The Navy has deployed a total of seven warships that include three warships - Sahyadri, Ranvir & Kadmatt - that are following the eye of the storm all the while keeping south of it, and four warships off the Tamil Nadu coast. The three warships are equipped with Humanitarian Assistance And Disaster Relief (HADR) stores on board. These HADR stores can support nearly 1000 people for seven days and include food and medicines along with material to build shelters.

Also read: Odisha braces for Cyclone Fani, a million to be evacuated

In a tweet, it said that it had also kept “six fixed wing air craft and seven helicopters on standby at INS Dega Vizag along with divers, rubberised craft, medical teams and HADR relief material”.

Have a look at the roll being experienced by one of the ships deployed in the wake of #CycloneFani. Do notice the totally wet quarter deck..

.. Yes, its getting in and out of water view choppy seas around pic.twitter.com/RqZoDcBPDX — SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 2, 2019

In another tweet, it showed the strength with which the waters had been churned by the cyclone, said to be the most intense and longest sustaining since its formation on April 26 in the Bay of Bengal.

Also read: Why Lanka changed cyclone name. Read all about naming norms

The first photograph shows the quarterdeck of the ship covered in water, while the remaining two photographs give a hint of the violent roll of the ship in the choppy seas.

Have a look at the system. Video courtesy https://t.co/oRhiwPLN3U pic.twitter.com/zAhvolrEF2 — SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 2, 2019

The Navy has also been putting out images of Cyclone Fani taken using a Doppler Weather Radar. The latest update shows the cyclone to be moving at a speed of about 15kmph.

Also read: Cyclone Fani may hit Odisha at 205 Km/Hr; tourists told to leave, poll code lifted

In its tweet, the Navy said, “Eye of the storm seen clearly in the image. In the last 06 hrs, the system has moved NNE with a speed of around 15kmph. Likely to move NNE further towards Odisha coast.”

#CycloneFani Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) image at 1701h this evening. Eye of the storm seen clearly in the image. In the last 06 hrs, the system has moved NNE with a speed of around 15kmph. Likely to move NNE further towards Odisha coast @nsitharaman @SpokespersonMoD @NDRFHQ pic.twitter.com/MBafxrTDnE — SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 2, 2019

Cyclone Fani is expected to make landfall on Friday near Puri between Gopalpur and Chandbali with a maximum speed of 170-180kmph gusting to 200kmph.

The cyclone’s landfall is expected to be accompanied by storm surge of 1.5 metre height above the astronomical tide, which is likely to inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha. The cyclone’s landfall is expected to be followed by “heavy to very heavy rain” over Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered the shutting down of the Bhubaneswar airport from midnight, even as Odisha began evacuating lakhs of people from its seaside villages and interior districts in buses and smaller vehicles on Thursday, a day before the cyclone makes landfall. Till Thursday evening, at least 8 lakh people had been evacuated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held a high-level meeting to review the preparedness for Cyclone Fani.