NEW DELHI (AP) — Tropical Storm Dana brought strong winds and heavy rain to India's eastern coast Friday, uprooting trees and bringing a flood risk after nearly 600,000 people evacuated.
The storm made landfall late Thursday night in Odisha state with maximum sustained winds of around 110 kph (68 mph) and gusts up to 120 kph (75 mph), according to the Indian Meteorological Department. Officials told the Press Trust of India news agency the storm would push further into northern Odisha and gradually weaken.
The storm pounded some districts in Odisha and neighboring West Bengal state with heavy downpours as gusty winds brought down trees, local media reported. As of early Friday, there were no deaths nor any major damage reported.
Nearly 600,000 people were evacuated from high-risk zones in Odisha earlier in the week, and teams of rescue and aid workers were deployed in preparation for the storm. Schools were closed, more than 200 trains were canceled and flights to and from the capital cities of Odisha and West Bengal were suspended.
Authorities were on high alert for damage in three districts in Odisha, where the weather department forecast a sea surge of around 1 meter (yard), which could further flood low-lying areas.
Climate scientists say severe storms are becoming more frequent in South Asia. Global warming driven by planet-heating gases has caused them to become more extreme and unpredictable.
India’s eastern coasts have long been prone to cyclones, but the number of intense storms is increasing along the country’s coast. 2023 was India’s deadliest cyclone season in recent years, killing 523 people and costing an estimated $2.5 billion in damage.
This photograph shared by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Government of India, shows NDRF personnel sawing fallen trees in Paradeep, in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha state, on India's eastern coastline, where Tropical Storm Dana made landfall late Thursday night, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, India, Friday, Oct. 24, 2024. (NDRF, Government of India, via AP)
A surfer enters the Bay of Bengal at Konark beach in Puri district of Odisha state, on India's eastern coastline, where Tropical Storm Dana is expected to make landfall late on Thursday and early into Friday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, India, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)
A stray dog sits on an empty jetty on Hooghly River after ferry services were suspended due to the approaching Tropical Storm Dana, which is expected to make landfall late on Thursday and early into Friday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, in Kolkata, India, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists in southeast Lebanon, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies.
Several journalists have been killed since a near-daily exchange of fire began along the Lebanon-Israel border on Oct. 8, 2023.
Lebanon’s health ministry says the total toll over the past year is over 2,500 killed and 12,000 wounded. The fighting in Lebanon has driven 1.2 million people from their homes, including more than 400,000 children, according to the United Nations children’s agency. Israeli strikes have killed much of Hezbollah’s top leadership since fighting ramped up in September.
Meanwhile, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians. The Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.
A hospital director in the northern Gaza Strip says they are facing a catastrophic shortage of basic supplies and that ambulances can no longer service the facility.
Here's the latest:
BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike on a compound housing journalists in southeast Lebanon has killed three media staffers, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Friday.
Local news station Al Jadeed aired footage from the scene showing collapsed buildings and cars marked “PRESS,” covered in dust and rubble. The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike, which hit a collection of chalets that had been rented by various media outlets.
The Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV said two of its staffers were among the journalists killed early Friday. Al-Manar TV of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said its camera operator was also killed. The airstrike hit early Friday in the Hasbaya region, which had been spared much of the fighting along the border so far.
Several journalists have been killed since a near-daily exchange of fire began along the Lebanon-Israel border on Oct. 8, 2023.
UNITED NATIONS — A driver for the United Nations agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza was killed when a U.N.-marked vehicle was hit by Israeli forces, the United Nations said Thursday.
U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that the Israeli fire also killed the driver’s brother and left three passersby with minor injuries.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon claimed the UNRWA driver was a Hamas commander who participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel.
UNRWA said the driver’s name was on a list of 100 staff members whom Israel claimed were members of Hamas’ military wing that was sent to the agency in July. At the time, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini urged Israel to provide more information so he could take action. But as of Thursday, UNRWA said Lazzarini had not yet received a response.
The attack on the UNRWA vehicle in central Deir Al-Balah was the latest against U.N. staff. More than 230 U.N. employees in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s offensive in the territory since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Flame rise from a past Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chief of Protocol Ibrahim Fakhroo welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, as he arrives in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Majdal Zoun village, in this view from the southern city of Tyre, south Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Damaged furnitures left on destroyed apartments that were hit by Israeli airstrikes, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Activists sit blindfolded to mark one year in the Hebrew calendar since the Hamas cross-border attack on Israel in a protest against the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah while hostages are still held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A flock of birds fly as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
