Heavy rains lashed Digha in West Bengal and Paradip Coast in Odisha on Wednesday morning as super cyclone Amphan was expected to hit the coastal areas of both the Indian states and also of neighbouring Bangladesh this afternoon.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the Super cyclone Amphan was about 120 km east-southeast of Paradip in Odisha at 8.30 a.m. "It is to cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digh (west Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sunderbans. The Landfall process to commence from afternoon," the IMD stated.

The department also pointed that Super cyclone Amphan centred at 7.30 a.m. on May 20, 2020, as an extremely severe cyclonic storm over northwest Bay of Bengal about, 125 km nearly east-southeast of Paradip, 225 km south of Digha and 380 km southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh.

The department stated that the current intensity of super cyclone Amphan near the center is 170-180 kilometre per hour and gusting to 200 kilometre per hour.

According to the observations from the coast, the IMD said that wind speed at Paradip was 102 kilometre per hour, at Chandbali 74 kilometre per hour, at Bhubaneshwar it was 37 kilometre per hour, at Balasore 61 kilometre per hour and in Puri the speed was 41 kilometre per hour.

As super cyclone Amphan barrels towards the Indian shores, the government had evacuated lakhs of people from vulnerable areas and shifted to safety.

On Tuesday, IMD Director General M. Mohapatra had warned that there will be extensive damage to buildings, and uprooting of trees and electric and communication lines. "Amphan is very intense and has the potential to wreak large scale damage," Mohapatra had said.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General S.N. Pradhan had said that Amphan is a 'super cyclone' and it is a serious issue. "The only other cyclone of this magnitude hit Odisha in 1999 and it was very deadly," Pradhan had stated.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has asked Mongla and Payra ports to hoist great danger signal No. 10 as the very severe cyclonic storm reached within 390 km of the country’s coastline. The storm is expected to cut its path through the Bangladesh and West Bengal coast near the Sundarbans on Wednesday evening.

The Met Office has raised the cyclone warning to great danger signal 10 for Mongla and Payra ports and kept it unchanged at No. 6 for Chattogram and Cox`s Bazar, said meteorologist Abdul Hamid.

Under the influence of the cyclone, low-lying areas in coastal districts and their offshore islands and chars are likely to be inundated by storm surges climbing 10-15 feet above the normal astronomical tide.

Both Bangladesh and India began to evacuate thousands of inhabitants in the coastal areas.

The storm is expected to move northeast and cut its path through the Bangladesh-West Bengal coast near the Sundarbans by Wednesday evening.

The great danger signal is used when the wind speed crosses 89 kmph, which means the cyclonic storm will affect the ports as it passes through. Cyclone Amphan is moving north-westwards over the bay.

The maximum sustained wind speed within 90 km of the cyclone centre was about 200 kmph rising to 220 kmph in gusts and squalls.

The coastal districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Jhalakathi, Pirojpur, Borguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barishal, Lakshmipur, Chandpur and the offshore islands and chars will come under the great danger signal No. 10.

Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and the nearby districts of Noakhali, Feni and their offshore islands and chars will come under danger signal No. 6.