Cyclone Montha: Severe storm forming in Bay of Bengal, rough weather alert for east coast

Cyclone Montha is expected to bring heavy rains to coastal areas between Odisha and Tamil Nadu from Monday to Wednesday.

Cyclone Montha is expected to intensify into a severe storm on Tuesday and cross Andhra Pradesh’s coast close to Kakinada, The Indian Express reported the India Meteorological Department (IMD) as saying.

The IMD has said that extremely heavy rainfall of over 210 millimetres in 24 hours is expected in Andhra’s Rayalaseema region on Monday and Tuesday and several districts of Odisha on Tuesday and Wednesday — Malakangiri, Koraput, Rayagarh, Gajpati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur and Kalahandi.

Additionally, northern Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and coastal Karnataka are likely to experience very heavy rain of 115-210 mm in 24 hours till Tuesday. Moreover, Yanam, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh are also forecast to have heavy rain till Thursday.

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Montha will likely be the first cyclone to make landfall in India. Earlier this month, cyclone Shakthi had developed off Gujarat in the Arabian Sea but did not hit the coast and moved away.

Red alerts issued, NDRF & state teams deployed

The IMD has issued a red alert for Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada, Konaseema, West Godavari, Krishna, Bapatla, Prakasam, and Nellore districts for Monday.

By late Tuesday, as the storm would reach the coast, the maximum sustained wind speeds are expected to be in the 90-110 kilometre per hour range.

In the wake of the alert, thousands of people in low-lying areas in the state have been moved to temporary relief camps, according to The Express.

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Andhra Home and Disaster Management Minister Vangalapudi Anitha told The Express that satellite phones have been sent to districts where the communication system may be affected or damaged.

“Our priority is to ensure that no untoward incident occurs, no one dies. People in the affected districts have been sent alerts on mobile phones and by announcements that unless it is an emergency, they should not come out of their homes till the cyclone passes. If they feel their house is dangerous, go to a safe place which is the nearest relief camp,’’ said Anitha.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have been deployed, fishing and related activities have been suspended, and beaches have been closed.

In Odisha, alerts have been issued for eight districts. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Sunday chaired a meeting to review the situation and said the state government was ready to tackle the situation.

The Express has reported that local administrations have been told to keep cyclone and flood relief centres in readiness to evacuate people in Odisha. The process is scheduled to start on Monday.

Personnel from the NDRF, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, and fire service have been deployed in districts likely to be affected, the report said.