Cyclone Jawad likely to weaken, move northwards during next 12 hours: IMD

IMD said that cyclonic storm 'Jawad' is likely to weaken gradually and move nearly northwards during the next 12 hours.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday said that cyclonic storm 'Jawad' is likely to weaken gradually and move nearly northwards during the next 12 hours.

"It is likely to weaken gradually and move nearly northwards during next 12 hours and then north-northeastwards along Odisha coast reaching near Puri around December 5 noon as a Deep Depression. Subsequently, it is likely to weaken further and continue to move north-northeastwards along Odisha coast towards West Bengal coast," said IMD in an official statement.

The national weather forecasting agency further informed that Jawad over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved slightly northwards with a speed of 4 kmph during the past six hours.

"Jawad lay centered at 05.30 hrs IST of today, December 4, 2021, over west-central Bay of Bengal near Latitude 16.2°N and Longitude 84.9°E, about 230 km southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 340 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha), 410 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha) and 490 km south-southwest of Paradip (Odisha)," the IMD said.

As part of the preparedness in light of Jawad, the Navy has ramped up rescue and relief operations. Navy in an official statement on Friday said that 13 flood relief teams (FRT) and four diving teams are kept on standby to be deployed for assisting in the rescue and relief operations. As many as three FRT and two diving teams have been dispatched to Odisha from Visakhapatnam to augment the existing resources.