Cyclone Jawad: Four districts to experience heavy rainfall

Bhubaneswar, Dec 4: Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena on Saturday said four districts of Odisha are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall under the impact of the cyclonic storm Jawad. The districts are Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Ganjam and Khordha. The cyclone is eventually weakening and is likely to turn into a deep depression before making landfall at Puri tomorrow noon, Jena informed while briefing the media persons here. He said the wind speed will be around 60-70 kilometers per hour when the cyclone will reach the coast of Puri. No major infrastructure damage is expected, he added. The impact of the cyclone is likely to be over by tomorrow evening and the weather will be normal after December 5. The cyclone is then expected to head towards the West Bengal coast after the landfall.  Only 1500 people have been shifted to safer places by 9 am as the wind speed is expected to reduce further. Also, around 300 pregnant women have been shifted to nearby hospitals, the SRC said. Vegetables and paddy crops are expected to be affected severely by the untimely rain. However, Jena appealed to the people to stay indoors during the cyclone. He advised the people living in the thatched houses to shift to nearby pucca houses to ensure their safety. He also assured that the cyclone damage assessment will be done within seven days and more priority will be given to agricultural crop damage as it will be severely affected due to the storm.