Amphan may intensify into super cyclone in next 12 hours, says IMD

It is likely to make landfall in Digha, West Bengal, by May 20

Warning signal number two has been hoisted in Pamban port in Tamil Nadu on Sunday as cyclonic storm Amphan lay centred in Bay of Bengal.

Amphan , now raging in the Bay of Bengal, is likely to intensify into a super cyclone — the severest category — in the next 12 hours, according to an update from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday.

Until Sunday evening, the IMD had said it was likely to be a less strong ‘extreme cyclonic storm.’ Amphan is expected to generate wind speeds up to 230 kmph, gusting to 265 kmph and make landfall in Digha, West Bengal, by May 20 and veer towards Bangladesh.

Last year, an

extremely severe cyclone Phailin had ravaged Odisha. Amphan, according to its present track is expected to be strongest in the ocean and weaken as it approaches land