Cyclone Amphan weakened a bit on Tuesday, but remained an extremely dangerous storm as it continued to track toward northeastern India and Bangladesh.Amphan, now classified by India’s Meteorological Department (IMD) as an extremely severe cyclonic storm, reached super cyclonic storm status on Monday night, local time, the highest rating for tropical cyclones on the country’s tropical cyclone scale.As of Tuesday evening local time, Amphan had maximum sustained winds of 213 km/h (132 mph), the equivalent of a strong Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic or East Pacific Oceans.Amphan will threaten the head of the Bay of Bengal region with torrential rain, widespread damaging winds and extreme storm surge as the storm approaches land. This cyclone is forecast to make landfall on Wednesday night, local time, near the border of India’s West Bengal state and Bangladesh. This path would lead to a direct hit on Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal.
Rain from Amphan was already being felt across the northern coast of the state of Odisha on Tuesday, Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls said.Authorities in both India and Bangladesh are trying to evacuate millions from low-lying coastal areas, according to The Associated Press. The evacuations come as both nations try to follow social distancing measures in place for the COVID-19 crisis.
India, home to over 1.3 billion, has been under a nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic since late March. The country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, chaired a “high-level” meeting on Monday to coordinate response strategy and review evacuation plans. The country’s National Disaster Response Force has deployed over 20 teams on the group to help with preparedness ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, while another 12 remain in reserve.”I pray for everyone’s safety and assure all possible support from the Central Government,” Modi said on Twitter.
After another meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee on Tuesday, more National Disaster Response Force teams have been deployed. Rescue and relief teams from the Army and Navy are also on standby, according to Asian News International.The IMD issued a warning for all fishing activity in West Bengal and Odisha to be suspended through Wednesday, May 20th.After meandering over the Bay of Bengal for over a week, an area of low pressure developed into a tropical depression on Saturday and was given the name Amphan.Conditions conducive for tropical development, including light wind shear and warm ocean waters, allowed Amphan to quickly climb the India Meteorological Department’s tropical cyclone scale into the beginning of the week.
By Monday evening, local time, Amphan became a super cyclonic storm with sustained wind speeds of 220 km/h (137 mph). According to Nicholls, Amphan is the first super cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 Odisha Cyclone. That cyclone in 1999 produced winds up to 260 km/h (160 mph).After weakening some on Tuesday, Amphan is expected to continue this trend as it approaches the head of the Bay of Bengal into Wednesday.While some additional weakening is expected just before Amphan makes landfall, the cyclone will still be a dangerous storm.
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