Heavy rain accompanied by squally winds has begun lashing the southern districts of Odisha as cyclonic storm ‘Montha’ strides towards Andhra coast with reports of landslides and uprooting of trees pouring in from several areas.
Though the cyclone is most likely to make a landfall and cross the Andhra Pradesh coast Wednesday tonight, the State Government has geared up its disaster preparedness machinery in evacuating 11,396 people from vulnerable eight southern districts- Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, and Nabarangpur.
After drizzling in the morning hours, intensity of rain has steadily gone up after the daybreak. In some places, the rainfall has been quite heavy. Therefore, in a precautionary measure, people in low-lying areas are being shifted to the safety of government shelter houses, said an official of Malkangiri district, located at the southernmost tip of Odisha.
Around 1,500 pregnant women have also been relocated to government-run health centres in these districts. To tackle the emergent situation effectively, the government has deployed 30 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams, 5 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) units, besides 123 firefighting units to the cyclone-prone districts, said officials.
As heavy rain has begun to batter parts of Gajapati and Ganjam districts, there are reports of disruption of vehicular traffic due to the uprooting of trees and landslides. The firefighting units have rushed to the affected areas to restore order, said an official.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who reviewed the situation, later said the Government has initiated all possible steps to avert cyclone and rain-related deaths.
The severe cyclonic storm ‘Montha’, which was centred in the west central Bay of Bengal, moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph about 480 km south-southwest of Gopalpur coast in Odisha. It is now moving towards Andhra Pradesh and is likely to cross the coast south of Visakhapatnam between 11 pm and 1 am on Tuesday night, the latest IMD weather bulletin said.
It will continue to move north-northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam around Kakinada as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph, it said,
The storm, which was moving at a speed of 12 km per hour, will also pass through Odisha’s Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts where the wind speed will be between 40-50 km per hour.
Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall will be experienced in the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Rayagada on Tuesday night and on Wednesday, the bulletin said.
Heavy precipitation may also occur in the districts of Balangir, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Deogarh. The coastal districts may experience light to moderate spells of rain during the period, it said.