The Indian Meteorological Department tweeted on Wednesday afternoon that Cyclone Yaas would gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm by around 7pm on Wednesday.
The IMD warned fishermen from venturing into the north Bay of Bengal and off north Odisha-West Bengal–Bangladesh coasts till morning of May 27.
The IMD warned of high tides, with waves of height 2-3 metres likely to inundate low-lying areas of Balasore, Bhadrak and about 2 meters above astronomical tide are likely to inundate low-lying areas of Medinipur, South 24 Parganas, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts.
Yaas was moving north-northwest towards Jharkhand, with the state evacuating people from low-lying areas of East and West Singbhum districts.
Earlier on Wednesday, heavy rainfall was reported in multiple areas in Odisha including Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara, while in West Bengal, North 24 Parganas, Digha, East Medinipur and Nandigram also received heavy rainfall. NDTV reported flooding had occurred in 13 low-lying parts of Kolkata.
Two people died in Digha district as a result of flooding. NDTV reported, "The seaside towns of Digha and Mandarmoni in Purba Medinipur and Fraserganj and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas were among the areas affected by a storm surge of more than 2 metres above the astronomical tide level. The surging waters have breached embankments at several places in the two coastal districts, inundating many villages and small towns... Water levels of several rivers including Bidyadhari, Hooghly and Rupnarayan have risen owing to Yaas and accompanying storm surge."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said 3 lakh houses were damaged due to the impact of Yaas. She said she would visit areas affected by the cyclone and high tide in East Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas on Friday. She said over 15 lakh people had been evacuated to safer areas. Mamata added the government had dispatched relief material worth Rs 1 crore to cyclone-affected areas.
The Army, NDRF, state disaster response force, police and other agencies have been continuing operations to evacuate people from affected areas.