Bhubaneswar: While a low pressure area is to form over southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman Sea and may intensify into a Cyclonic Storm by the evening of May 16, the regional office of India Meteorological Department (IMD) clarified that there is no threat for Odisha. In years since the 1999 disaster, India created a new disaster response infrastructure. Aid agencies are also concerned for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled ethnic violence in Myanmar and are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh near the coast. advertisement. Cyclone Amphan is a very intense storm which can wreak large-scale damage, India Meteorological Department Director General M Mohapatra said on Monday. Super cyclone Amphan, which is likely to weaken into an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" by afternoon, has prompted Odisha and Bengal to prepare for evacuations and ensure minimum damage to the states. The Assam government on Tuesday issued a "high alert" over cyclone "Amphan" and directed the state disaster management authority to set up a control room to deal with the situation. Cyclone Fani has been downgraded to a very severe cyclonic storm — down from an extremely severe cyclonic storm. More than 5 lakh people have been evacuated in West Bengal and 1,58,640 people in Odisha in view of cyclone Amhpan, said SN Pradhan, chief of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Wednesday. In a fresh alert for Odisha and West Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday morning said that it is likely to move towards West Bengal and weaken into an extremely severe cyclonic storm. Srikakulam District Collector J Nivas on Monday said that the administration is "fully geared up" to face Cyclone Amphan. The system is expected to move west-northwestwards initially and then north-northwestwards, towards West Bengal, adjoining Bangladesh and north Odisha coasts, Mohapatra said. With the depression over the Bay of Bengal set to intensify into a cyclone and trigger widespread rainfall, the Odisha government on Tuesday put 15 of the state's 30 districts on alert to deal with a possible flood-like situation. Thank you for subscribing to our daily newsletter. Cyclone Amphan: More Than 6.5 Lakh People Evacuated In Bengal, Odisha. Odisha cyclone Latest Breaking News, Pictures, Videos, and Special Reports from The Economic Times. It's expected to hit Bangladesh soon, and the country has been conducting mass evacuations all Friday. The strongest tropical cyclone to hit India in 20 years made landfall Friday, killing two people and lashing the country's east coast with ferocious winds and torrential downpours. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba will chair a meeting of the National Crisis Monitoring Committee at 12 noon today, reported news agency ANI. © Copyright 2020, OMMCOM NEWS, All Rights Reserved. From CNN's Swati Gupta, Helen Regan and Joshua Berlinger. In a letter to the district administrators, Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said, "All officers to remain in headquarters and not to avail leave till the cyclone situation is over. Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to West Bengal and Odisha to survey areas ravaged by Cyclone Amphan, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee assuring "all possible support to overcome the crisis" triggered by the worst cyclonic storm to have hit the neighbouring state in 283 years.