Titli effect to last till tomorrow
Signal 3 remains in force at marine ports
Special Correspondent
After wreaking havoc in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states of India, Cyclone Titli has now become a deep depression over land and is weakening gradually. But it has made its effect felt even in Bangladesh. Light to moderate and heavy rain, which has been falling in different parts of the country since Thursday, may not stop before Sunday, the Met Office said yesterday (Friday). Owing to the cyclone and its transformation into a deep depression, the Bay remains volatile with a pressure gradient and invective clouds whirling above. The maritime ports of Chittagong, Coxs Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised by the Met Office to keep the local cautionary signal 3 hoisted.
The Met Office said fishing boats and trawlers in the north Bay have been asked to keep close to their shelters, negotiate the seas carefully, and avoid venturing into the deep sea. As it rained throughout the night in most parts of the country, the mercury slid, bringing a touch of cool nights and mornings, forcing many to bring out their blankets and quilts to avoid catching cold and going down with fever.
Till 12 noon from 6am yesterday, the highest rainfall of 58mm was recorded in the south-eastern port city of Chattogram, followed by 52mm in the nearby isle of Sandwip. During the same period, capital Dhaka had 23mm of rainfall that saw the temperature plummeting to a maximum of 26.2 dgrees Celsius.
The Met Office said the showers, ranging from nagging light to moderate and heavy and very heavy at places, would start tapering off in the next 72 hours, bringing sunny days after Sunday. But the mercury would not go above 36C. After some light, moderate and heavy showers overnight in parts of the country till yesterday morning, the rain slowed down by afternoon. Dark clouds covered the sun and kept the day cool, with the highest maximum temperature being 30.2C in the southern coastal town of Khepupara, which had 77mm of rainfall, the highest recorded on Thursday.
Days would remain cool even after the weather improves. Weathermen said moderate rain and thundershowers, along with temporary gusty winds, were likely in most places of Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions today (Saturday).
Cyclone Titli has made landfall in Indias Odisha near Gopalpur, the weather department said yesterday. People in coastal areas of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh are preparing to face the full onslaught of the cyclone. Titli, which means butterfly in Hindi, has been categorised as a very severe cyclonic storm. People in five coastal districts in Odisha are being moved to safety after the storm intensified. The storm is inching closer to the coast in southern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh. All schools, colleges and anganwadi centres in four districts of Odisha were closed, say agencies.
Titli weakened into a deep depression and moved towards northeast yesterday. The storm is now likely to further lose its strength and enter the Gangetic West Bengal. Skymet Weather has predicted heavy rainfall in various districts of West Bengal, Bangladesh, and also parts of northeastern India including Tripura and Mizoram.
Heavy rainfall is expected in Digha, Kolkata, Contai, Purulia and both the North and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal in the next 24 hours. It is likely to intensify by yesterday night and continue until this morning. Fishermen have also been issued alerts and advised not to sail into the sea along and off the coasts West Bengal and Odisha, deep sea areas of North and Central Bay of Bengal till today. On Thursday morning Cyclone Titli made landfall near Gopalpur in Odisha with surface wind speeds of 126 kmph.
