Nargis remains strong

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

Bhubaneswar, April 29: Yesterday’s cyclonic storm (Nargis) over Bay of Bengal remained almost stationary today and lay centred 650km south of Orissa’s coastal town of Gopalpur and was likely to intensify further before moving in a northerly direction. The severe storm now lay centred over west-central and adjoining south-west and south-east Bay of Bengal, 650km south of Gopalpur, said Met department sources. The system is likely to intensify further and move slowly in a northerly direction for sometime. Thereafter it is likely to move north-east, said director of Bhubaneswar meteorology centre, S.C. Sahoo. “The system has remained stationary and we are closely monitoring it,” said Sahoo. Latest radar observation indicates that thundershower accompanied with squall and hail with maximum wind speed reaching between 60 and 70kmph are likely to affect parts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Nowrangpur, Raygada, Kalahandi, Gajapati, Phulbani, Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Khurda and Cuttack by 9pm today. “Rain or thundershower is likely to occur at isolated places over the state. The cyclone warning centre of the Met department has hoisted distant signal number-2 for storm warning at Paradip and Gopalpur ports,” he added.