Katak: The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has asked the collectors of seven coastal districts of Odisha including Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Ganjam and Khordha to closely watch for a cyclonic storm brewing over the South China Sea.

Here are the main highlights: 

1. The India Meteorological Department issued a bulletin on January 3, 2019, which stated that a cyclonic storm called ‘Pabuk’ lay centered about 1500km east-southeast of Port Blair at 8.30 AM. 

2. It is likely to move west-northwestwards and emerge into the Andaman Sea around the forenoon of January 5. 

3. The SRC, in a release, said that Pabuk is supposed to move north-northwestwards, recurving northeastwards towards Myanmar coast and then weaken further during January 7-8.

4. The release also revealed that the sea is expected to become rough during this time. People near the Andaman Sea and adjoining areas of east-central and the southeast Bay of Bengal should be careful and avoid venturing into the sea from January 5-7.

5. The fishermen are also advised not to venture into the Andaman Sea from January 4-7 and into the Bay of Bengal during January 6-7. 

6. Dry weather is likely to prevail over Odisha for the next five days.