Super cyclone Amphan begins landfall in India

India Metrological Department (IMD) Wednesday said super cyclone Amphan has begun making landfall near the Sunderbans in eastern Indian state of West Bengal with a wind speed of 160 to 170kmph gusting to 190 kmph as an extremely severe cyclonic storm.

“Landfall process commenced and forward sector of the wall cloud region entering into land in West Bengal and landfall process will continue for about four hours,” IMD said.
According to officials

over 500,000 people have been taken to shelters in West Bengal and over 100,000 in Odisha.

The cyclone is likely to reach Kolkata by Thursday evening.

Officials said East Midnapore and North 24 Parganas in West Bengal were witnessing heavy rain.

The cyclone is expected to cause heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal and heavy to very heavy rainfall over north coastal Odisha. It will also cause heavy to very falls over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim on Wednesday and Thursday and Meghalaya on Thursday.

IMD said

extensive damage is likely to occur to all types of kutcha (makeshift) houses, some damage to old badly managed pucca (permanent) structures.