1. The landfall process of Cyclone Dana began on the Odisha coast around midnight with the districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore and Jagatsinghpur witnessing wind speeds of 110 kmph and extremely heavy rain.

2. “The landfall process would continue for the next 1-2 hours,” the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in an update around 8:30 am.

3. Dana, which was named by Qatar, is likely to weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm by today forenoon, the weather agency added.

4. Reports of trees getting uprooted were received at the office of the Special Relief Commissioner in the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar.

5. In neighbouring West Bengal, East Midnapore also witnessed the impact of the cyclone.

6. The services at Bhubaneswar’s Biju Patnaik International Airport and Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, which were suspended on Thursday evening as part of precautionary measures, resumed at 8 am today.

7. Authorities in both states evacuated lakhs of people, shut schools, cancelled more than 400 trains, and suspended flight operations as they braced for the severe cyclonic storm.

8. In Odisha, the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi-led government said that they have evacuated about 5.8 lakh people and deployed 385 rescue teams comprising National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) 51, Fire Service and Forest staff. About 150 platoons (1 platoon comprising 30 personnel) of Odisha Police have also been pressed into service for rescue, road clearing and other activities at the ground level.

9. In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said 2,43,374 people have taken shelter in camps.

10. She also stayed the entire Thursday night at the state secretariat and personally monitored the situation.

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1. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the cyclone is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

2. At 4.30 pm, the storm was located 150 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha) and 250 km south-southeast of West Bengal’s Sagar Island.

3. In anticipation of the cyclone, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state had identified more than 3.5 lakh people for evacuation from low-lying areas. As of Thursday, 243,374 people had already taken shelter in relief camps.

4. “For evacuation from low-lying areas, we have identified 356,941 people,” Ms Banerjee told reporters, adding that she would remain at the state secretariat overnight to monitor the situation. Chief secretary Manoj Pant and home secretary Nandini Chakraborty are also overseeing the evacuation and relief operations.

5. South Bengal districts, including Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly and the 24 Parganas, have already begun experiencing moderate to heavy rains and gusty winds, with weather conditions expected to worsen. The IMD has warned of “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in these areas, with isolated places likely to see “extremely heavy downpours” over the next 48 hours.

6. Fishermen have been advised to stay away from the sea as wind speeds of up to 110 kmph are anticipated over the northwest Bay of Bengal. The storm is expected to strengthen, with winds reaching 120 kmph during landfall before gradually subsiding.

7. Public transportation across southern Bengal could be severely impacted. South Eastern Railway (SER), which oversees routes in West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand, has cancelled more than 170 express and passenger trains scheduled between October 23 and 27.

8. In addition, Eastern Railway cancelled 68 suburban trains in the Howrah division for Friday morning, while all EMU local trains from Sealdah station were suspended from Thursday evening through Friday morning. Kolkata Port authorities also halted ship movements until Friday evening as a precautionary measure.

9. Operations at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport were suspended from 6 pm on Thursday until 9 am on Friday due to expected high winds and heavy rain. Airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said necessary precautions have been taken, including securing planes, retracting aerobridges, and ensuring all loose equipment have been tied.

10. Thirteen battalions from the state’s disaster management force and 14 battalions from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the coastal regions. Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard has mobilised vessels and aircraft to respond to any distress situations at sea.

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