Even as cyclone Dana wreaked havoc in the neighbouring districts but largely spared Kolkata, it did leave a trail with inundated roads, lanes and bylanes. Several pockets of the city registered rains as high as 163mm and 124mm within 10 hours.
As anticipated by the weather scientists, Dana made landfall between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph, gusting up to 120 kmph. The most intense period was observed between 2.30 am to 4 am. As explained by weather scientists, unlike super cyclone Amphan in 2020, Dana lacked an eye or the hollow part in the centre. The hollow portion of the cyclone is ‘weatherless’ and does not have clouds or even winds. As the cyclone hit land at a distance of about 220 km from Kolkata, the city did not feel much impact of the storm and high winds.
Kolkata was lashed by Dana’s tail, receiving very heavy rainfall within 10 hours between 4 am and 2 pm today, under the thick walls of the ‘associated cloud band that are usually a part of such severe cyclonic storms.
Later in the day, the cyclonic storm weakened into a ‘deep depression’ and lay centred about 40 km north-northwest of Bhadrak with the maximum sustained wind speed of about 55-65 kmph, gusting up to 75 kmph, around the centre. As tipped by the Regional Meteorological Centre, the system is likely to move nearly westwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a depression till 11.30 pm. Even with the system losing intensity, districts of south Bengal are expected to get rainfall tomorrow while heavy downpour has been forecast for East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Jhargram.