Kolkata will face wind speed of 110-120 kmph: IMD on super cyclone Amphan

WION Web Team

New DelhiUpdated: May 19, 2020, 05:36 PM IST

District administration of Bhola shows residents being evacuated in Dhalchar village on the island of Bhola as Cyclone Amphan barrels towards the Bangladesh coast. Millions of people were being moved to safety as one of the fiercest cyclones in years barrelled towards India and Bangladesh Photograph:(AFP)

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The IMD said the super cyclone could affect north and south 24 Parganas and east Midnapore districts in West Bengal

India's Meteorological Department(IMD) said today that super cyclonic storm Amphan has moved with a speed of 17 kmph during the past six hours and lay centred as an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" over the Bay of Bengal.

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"It is very likely to move north-northeastwards across the northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal and Bangladesh coast between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya Islands in Bangladesh close to Sundarbans during afternoon to evening on Wednesday," India's weather forecaster said.

District administration of Bhola shows residents from Dhalchar village being evacuated in a fishing trawler on the island of Bhola as cyclone Amphan barrels towards Bangladesh coast

The IMD said the super cyclone could affect north and south 24 Parganas and east Midnapore districts in West Bengal.

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"Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah and West Midnapore districts will face wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting up to 135 kmph," the IMD informed.

It is the second super cyclone to have been formed in Bay of Bengal after 1999. The IMD said the wind speed of the super cyclone right now is 200-240 kmph and it is moving towards north-northwestward direction.