The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said early Wednesday that severe cyclonic storm Montha weakened into a cyclonic storm after crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to several coastal districts.
“The Severe Cyclonic Storm Montha over coastal Andhra Pradesh moved northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph and weakened into a Cyclonic Storm,” the IMD said in its 2:30 a.m. update.
The storm was centered about 20 km west-northwest of Narsapur, 50 km northeast of Machilipatnam, and 90 km west-southwest of Kakinada, according to the weather office. It is being continuously tracked through Doppler radars at Machilipatnam and Visakhapatnam.
Officials said the weakening was in line with earlier projections as the storm moved inland and began losing strength. Heavy rain and gusty winds continued to pound West Godavari, Krishna, and East Godavari districts, with warnings issued for flooding in low-lying areas.
Earlier, Cyclone Montha swept across the Andhra Pradesh and Yanan coasts between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam in the early hours of Wednesday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“The latest observations indicate that the severe cyclonic storm ‘Montha’ has crossed the Andhra Pradesh and Yanan coasts between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, to the south of Kakinada,” the IMD said in a post on X, confirming the landfall process had been completed shortly after midnight.
Coastal areas experienced heavy rain and gale-force winds as the cyclone barreled through, uprooting trees and disrupting power supply in several districts.
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Earlier, in a 9:30 pm bulletin, the IMD said the severe cyclonic storm moved northwestwards with a speed of 15 km/hour and lay centred about 60 km east of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 100 km south-southwest of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 230 km southwest of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 480 km southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha).
The after effects of Cyclone Montha are expected to be felt in parts of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Heavy rain has been predicted in these states for the next few days.
ANDHRA IMPOSES NIGHT CURFEW ON VEHICULAR MOVEMENT
The Andhra Pradesh government announced a complete suspension of vehicle movement in seven cyclone-affected districts — Krishna, Eluru, East Godavari, West Godavari, Kakinada, Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema, and parts of Alluri Sitarama Raju (Chinturu and Rampachodavaram divisions) — from 8:30 pm until 6 am on Wednesday.
Only emergency medical services are exempt from the night curfew. Authorities have urged residents to stay indoors, avoid unnecessary travel and remain alert to official safety advisories.
District Collectors and Superintendents of Police have been directed to halt all road traffic, including on national highways passing through these districts.
Ahead of the landfall, power supply was disrupted on Manginapudi Beach Road in Machilipatnam after a palm tree fell on the power lines due to strong winds. Authorities were working to restore the power supply.
HEAVY RAIN IN ANDHRA, FLIGHTS AND TRAINS CANCELLED
Under the influence of the cyclone, Machilipatnam recorded 5.2 mm of rainfall since 8:30 am, followed by Narasapur (9.8 mm), Tuni (15.6 mm), Kakinada (5.7 mm) and Visakhapatnam (0.2 mm).
Continuous rain has also been lashing Nellore district for the past 36 hours, with an average of five cm recorded in the last 24 hours and some pockets receiving up to seven cm, an official told news agency PTI.
“Heavy rainfall is expected to continue for the next 12 hours, and monitoring teams are on alert across vulnerable urban and rural areas,” the official added.
Meanwhile, a woman died in Makanagudem village of Konaseema district after a tree was uprooted in strong gales and fell on her, a police official told PTI.
The impending cyclone has also hit flight operations in Andhra Pradesh, with authorities cancelling 32 flights at Visakhapatnam airport, 16 at Vijayawada airport and four in Tirupati.
Meanwhile, 120 trains were cancelled in total on Monday and Tuesday across the South Central Railway (SCR) Zone in view of Cyclone Montha, a railway official said.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has positioned 45 teams of rescuers to undertake relief and rescue operations as the cyclone makes landfall on Andhra Pradesh coast.
NEIGHBOURING ODISHA ON ALERT
Odisha, which is also expected to face the brunt of Cyclone Montha in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, is on alert with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, saying his government opened over 2,000 disaster relief centres in eight southern districts for people likely to be impacted by the severe cyclonic storm.
He said 11,396 people have shifted to 2,048 disaster relief centres opened by the state government.
He said tourists are denied entry to destinations like Deomali and Mahendragiri hills, and restrictions are imposed on visit of people to different sea beaches across the coastline.
The Chief Minister said the schools and anganwadi centres were closed in nine districts till October 30 in the wake of the cyclone situation.
Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway has announced the cancellation, diversion and short termination of some trains operating in the Waltair region and connected routes. The leaves of government employees have also been cancelled till October 30.
The state government has advised fishermen not to venture into the Bay of Bengal, along and off the Odisha coast, till October 29.
IMD ISSUES RAIN WARNINGS FOR SEVERAL ODISHA DISTRICTS
The IMD has issued a red alert for Tuesday as it forecast extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of Malakangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam.
Similarly, an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20 cm) was also issued for the districts of Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhmal, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur, Boudh, Khurda, Puri and Bargarh districts.
A yellow warning of heavy rainfall (7 to 11 cm) was also forecast for the day in the districts of Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda and Sundergarh.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday reviewed Cyclone Montha preparedness with the top officials of East Coast Railway and South Central Railway through video conferencing.
He directed officials to ensure passenger safety, train regulation, restoration planning and coordination with local administrations and disaster management agencies.
– Ends
(with inputs from PTI)
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