Cyclone Jawad: Heavy rains lash parts of Odisha, Puri beaches vacated as precaution

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Bhubaneswar: Heavy rains lashed parts of Odisha on Sunday as remnants of cyclone Jawad, which has weakened into a deep depression, neared the coast, officials said.

The system moved north-northeastwards at 20 kmph in the last six hours and is over west-central Bay of Bengal, 90 km from Gopalpur, 120 km from Puri and 210 km from Paradip, the weather office said in its 11.30 am bulletin.

It is likely to move north-northeast wards, weaken further into depression and reach Odisha coast near Puri around afternoon, it said.

It is likely to continue to move north-northeastwards along Odisha coast towards West Bengal coast and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area around midnight, it added.

Rainfall was reported from most districts of the state, the weather office said.

Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur received heavy to very heavy rainfall.

Khalikote in Ganjam district recorded 158 mm rainfall, followed by Nayagarh (107.5 mm), Chhatrapur (86.6 mm) and Bhubaneswar (42.3 mm), it said.

Rainfall will continue till Sunday evening and gradually shift to the northern region of the state as the remnants of the cyclone move towards West Bengal.

Ganjam district received the highest average rainfall of 47.8 mm. Jagatsinghpur received 38.3 mm rainfall, followed by Kendrapara (35.7), Khurda (33), Puri (25.5), Bhadrak (21.6), Nayagarh (21.6), Cuttack (20.5).

Nuapada, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri are the only districts in the state that did not receive any overnight rainfall, the weather office said.

The state's average rainfall was 11.8 mm, officials said.

The beaches in Puri have been vacated as a precautionary measure, they said.

"The safety of the people is our topmost priority. Locals and tourists have been asked to vacate the beaches," Puri's Superintendent of Police KV Singh said.

The weather office said that squally winds packing speeds of 45-55 kmph, gusting to 65 kmph are likely to prevail along and off the Odisha coast on Sunday.

Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the westcentral and northwest Bay of Bengal, and along and off Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts during the next 24 hours.