Odisha braces for heavy rainfall with red warning issued by IMD

Odisha braces for heavy rainfall with red warning issued by IMD

Bhubaneswar, Aug 16: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted that the low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjacent West Bengal is expected to intensify and bring heavy to very heavy rainfall to Odisha.

According to the IMD, this system is likely to move north-northwest over the next two days, becoming a well-marked low-pressure area over Bangladesh and Gangetic West Bengal. It will then shift west-northwest, affecting Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, and surrounding regions.

Since Thursday night, several areas in Odisha have experienced light to moderate rain and thunderstorms. This rainfall is expected to persist with increasing intensity until the morning of August 20, potentially disrupting daily life in some regions.

The IMD has issued a red warning for isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20 cm), with the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall (>20 cm) in one or two locations in Balasore and Bhadrak districts by Saturday morning. This could lead to flash floods, waterlogging in low-lying areas, agricultural field inundation, mudslides, and damage to informal roads and kutcha houses. The river water levels may also rise significantly.

Additionally, a yellow warning has been issued for rainfall (7 to 11 cm) in one or two places in Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagarh, Boudh, Sonepur, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Rayagada, and Gajapati districts.