Rain drenches city under Asani impact

The super cyclonic storm Asani was unlikely to hit Bangladesh directly but it started causing heavy to severe rainfall in the coastal regions which might continue for next three days.
However, Bangladeshi and Indian Met offices predicted that the storm could hit Andhra Pradesh of India between Tuesday night and Wednesday early hours, then it might weaken and return to the sea losing its intensity.
The Indian Meteorological Office (IMD) said the storm could hit Kakinara and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, then it would weaken and could return to the sea in the form of a cyclone.
It will then take a turn to the north-east along the Andhra coast, then form a deep depression by Thursday (May 12) morning and further weaken into a low.
While there was no possibility for Bangladesh to take a hit from it directly, its impact might be felt for next few days across Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal and Odessa.
Met office said heavy to severely heavy rains with thundershowers might occur in Khulna, Chattogram, Barishal divisions and elsewhere in the country in next 72 hours.
It said the cyclone was 1205 km south-southwest of Chittagong seaport, 1125 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazar seaport, 1165 km south of Mongla seaport and 1145 km south of Payra seaport in the evening on Tuesday.
It became more concentrated in the northwest and could move forward.
The maximum sustained wind speed within 54 km of the cyclone center was 62 kmph, which is increasing up to 88 km in the form of gusts or gusty winds. The sea was rough near the centre of the cyclone.
In this situation, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra seaports have been asked to display the number: two remote warning signal.
All fishing boats and trawlers stationed in the North Bay have been told to proceed cautiously from near the coast.
The effects of the cyclone started taking toll with heavy to severely heavy rains in the southern part of the country.
Besides, light to moderate heavy rains are falling in other parts of the country including the capital as Dhaka received 29 mm of rain till 6:00. The highest rainfall during this period was 80 mm in Sylhet. The rainfall might start to decrease from May 13, said Met Office.

tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com