Cyclone Montha batters India's east coast; 1 dead, thousands evacuated

Cyclone Montha made landfall in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, leaving a trail of destruction on the eastern coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada with winds topping 100km an hour.

The cyclone made landfall as a severe storm around 7:30 pm yesterday, with its crossing lasting at least four hours. A woman died after a tree pierced her home due to the heavy winds that downed several trees across the state.

Across the border in Odisha, Montha’s outer bands unleashed torrential rain and winds reaching up to 100 km/h across Ganjam and Gajapati districts, toppling trees and blocking roads. While no casualties were reported, landslides severed access to parts of R Udayagiri, Parlakhemundi, Huma, and Kashipur.

Montha to maintain momentum

Severe cyclonic storm Montha is likely to maintain the intensity for a period of six hours after its landfall over interior Andhra Pradesh and the adjoining areas, including south Odisha, the India Meteorological Department has said.

The Met Department forecast very likely light to moderate rainfall at most places in Andhra Pradesh and Yanam and heavy to very rainfall at a few places till October 29.

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Similarly, it forecast extremely heavy rainfall of greater than 20 cm at isolated places during the same period.

“The severe cyclonic storm Montha is likely to maintain the intensity of a cyclonic storm for a period of six hours after the landfall over interior Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas of south Odisha, south Chhattisgarh and Telangana,” a Met Department press release said.

For October 30, it forecasts light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy rainfall at isolated places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Red alert in AP

Authorities have shut schools and colleges in Andhra after Cyclone Montha triggered heavy rainfall across the city. The weather office issued so-called red alerts, the highest level of weather warnings, for 19 districts in Andhra Pradesh, forecasting extremely heavy rains.

At Uppada in Kakinada district, the sea turned turbulent, flooding homes and ripping up the coastal road. Police sealed off the Kakinada–Uppada beach road after waves breached embankments. As the cyclone’s eye moved inland, thousands took refuge in shelters, waiting for the storm to pass. More than 10,000 Andhra residents, mostly fishing families, were evacuated from 65 villages across 12 coastal mandals ahead of landfall.

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With inputs from agencies