Heavy rain, squally weather, and rough sea conditions are expected to prevail along India’s east coast between Odisha and Tamil Nadu for the next two days owing to the approaching cyclone, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Once intensified, the storm will be called Cyclone Montha, and it will be the first cyclone likely to make landfall over the Indian landmass this year. Earlier this month, Cyclone Shakti developed off the Gujarat coast in the Arabian Sea, but it moved away from the Indian coast.
Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mahe, and coastal Karnataka will experience very heavy rain (115 – 210 mm in 24 hours) till Tuesday. Heavy rain is forecast over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and south Odisha till October 30.
According to the latest satellite imagery and other weather updates on Saturday, the deep depression was present over the Southeast Bay of Bengal. The IMD said on Saturday that the system was located at about 620 km west of Port Blair, 780 km east-southeast of Chennai, 830 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, 830 km southeast of Kakinada, and 930 km south-southeast of Gopalpur.
“The system is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards, intensify further into a cyclonic storm over the southwest and the adjoining West-central Bay of Bengal sometime on Monday,” the IMD said.
The IMD has issued a red alert for Monday for Kakinada, Konaseema, West Godavari, Krishna, Bapatla, Prakasam, and SPSR Nellore districts along the coastal Andhra Pradesh. Heavy rain will lash the adjacent districts of Thiruvallur in north Tamil Nadu, along with the southern districts of Odisha, including Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Gajapathi, Nabarangpur, Balangir, Kandhamal, and Ganjam, for which an orange alert has been issued for Monday.
By Tuesday, the cyclone is expected to strengthen into a severe storm and reach close to the Andhra Pradesh coast by October 28.
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In its northwestward-northerly movement, the storm is very likely to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, close to Kakinada, during evening hours or by Tuesday night as a severe cyclonic storm.
The IMD has issued a red alert on Tuesday for Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Alluri Aitharama Raju, Anakpalli, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, East Godavari, Eluru, Konaseema , Guntur, Krishna, and Bapatla districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Preparations in Andhra Pradesh
The Andhra Pradesh Government has held a preparedness and review meeting with the collectors of coastal districts. The state government has released emergency funds to 11 affected districts. There are eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force along with nine teams of the State Disaster Response Forces positioned on standby. The Government has declared holidays for educational institutions till Wednesday. All fishing and related activities have been temporarily suspended, and beach tourism has been closed.
In view of any emerging medical emergency, hospitals-on-wheels will commence services in Kakinada along with the setting up of medical camps in all the required coastal districts.
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Some of the cyclones that affected Andhra Pradesh during October have been very severe: Titli (crossed near Palasa, Srikakulam on October 11, 2018), Kyant (weakened off Andhra Pradesh in October 2016), Hudhud (crossed over Visakhapatnam on October 12, 2014), and Cyclone Ogni (crossed between Ongole and Machilipatam on October 30, 2006).
