Cyclone Remal, which has developed in the Bay of Bengal, is expected to make landfall between Sagar islands in West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh, the department said.

In view of Cyclone Remal’s impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, flight operations will remain suspended from “1200 IST on 26.05.2024 to 0900 IST on 27.05.2024 due to forecast of heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall at Kolkata,” Kolkata airport authorities said Saturday.

North and South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Howrah, Hooghly districts in West Bengal have been placed under red alert, as the storm gets closer Sunday. Extremely heavy rainfall (over 204mm in 24 hours)with gusty winds over these districts. The Met department has warned of heavy rain and gusty winds over north Odisha and Bengal till the early hours of Monday.

“Cyclone Remal is likely to continue to move northwards. It will intensify into a ‘severe’ cyclone by Sunday morning and move over northwest and adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal. It is expected to cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Island and Khepupara by Sunday midnight as a severe cyclonic storm. The expected wind speed is 110 to 120 km/hr gusting to 135 kmph,” the IMD said on Saturday.

In Odisha, Mayurbhaj, Bhadrak, Kendujhar, Baleshwar, Jajpur, Kendraparha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Khorda and Puri districts are likely to receive heavy rainfall (64-104 mm in 24 hours) Sunday. The Tripura government has also issued an alert across all 8 districts following the IMD’s warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and thunderstorms over next 48 hours.

With inputs from Debraj Deb in Agartala & PTI