Cyclonic storm 'Fani' that hit Odisha coast brought heavy rainfall in the city today. Official of Meteorological Centre in Ranchi said that the weather will continue for next 48 hours which will be accompanied by strong winds and heavy rainfall. The deep depression over Bay of Bengal has led to the change in the weather. The heavy rainfall will be for two days and after that the weather will be back to normal due to movement of storm into depression and then into deep depression after two days.
The very severe cyclonic storm Fani ( pronounced Phoni, meaning snake) originated from a tropical depression that formed west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean on April 26 made landfall close to Puri at around 8 am. It took around three hours for the entire landfall process to complete.
The weather department has forecast that selected parts of the State which are close to West Bengal will experience heavy rainfall in comparison to other parts of the state. High alerts have been issued in Ranchi, Ramgarh, Sahebgunj, Deoghar Bokaro, Dhanbad, Pakur, Jamtara, East and West Singhbhum, Kharsawa and Saraikela by regional IMD. The storm is centered 95km south-southwest of Chittagong and about 300km east- southeast of Calcutta and is moving with a fast speed toward Jharkhand.
The Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore, Kolkata, also issued a forecast of fairly widespread rain over Jharkhand in the next 24 hours. "Though Jharkhand is far, it will receive a good spell of rain that will be accompanied with winds at 50kmph," said a duty officer. Weathermen at the Ranchi Met office said the intensity of rainfall was expected to be more in the southern and south-eastern parts of the state.
According to information areas like Mango, Jugsalai, Baghbera, Pardih have been worst hit. Water clogging at these areas has made difficult for people to move. The downpour exposed the woeful drainage system on the city roads. Choked drains resulted in water logging in different parts of the city. Motorists had to struggle to get through the water-logged roads.
Most of the roads are dotted with stalled vehicles, adding to the chaos. In some low lying areas several autos have been reported stranded in water.
“Rains have made life difficult for the residents but still there has not been much flooding even in the low-lying areas. We are keeping a vigil look and are prepared to face situation,” said an officer of Jugsalai Municipality
Already being battered by rains, various parts of Jharkhand are expected to experience more of the same in the next 48 hours: heavy to very heavy rainfall.
According go the Met director, tomorrow ( May 4 / Saturday) the heavy rainfall will shift to north eastern parts of Jharkhand comprising Dhanbad, Deoghar, Jamtara, Dumka, and Pakur districts as the cyclone will head north eastwards and enter Bangladesh by tomorrow evening.