The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday that Cyclone Hudhud was expected to make landfall around the port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday forenoon, turning into severe cyclonic storm. The storm was located about 470km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam and 520km south-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha on Friday night. The Met department said wind speeds would gradually increase to 130-140 kmph, gusting to 155 kmph from Sunday morning along and off northern Andhra Pradesh that includes the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. “Under the influence of the system, rainfall at most places with heavy (6.5-12.4cm) to very heavy falls (12.5-24.4cm) at a few places and isolated extremely heavy falls (≥ 24.5cm) would occur over West and East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north Andhra Pradesh and Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Phulbani districts of south Odisha commencing from 11th onwards,” the department said in a statement. Cyclone Hudhud, named after a bird, is expected to cause damage to crops and houses, and disrupt power, communication lines, rail and road transportation in the region. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the situation with chief secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao on Friday and asked the administration to be fully prepared to meet any eventuality. The state government identified 26 mandals (sub-districts) to be affected by Cyclone Hudhud and opened 125 relief camps to house evacuated people along the coast. Eleven teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and another four teams were expected to reach the state by the evening even as the administration in the coastal districts remained on high alert, the Andhra Pradesh government said in a statement. The defence forces were also pressed into action to aid the administration in rescue and relief operations. Indian Air Force has kept four helicopters on standby to evacuate people. The Indian Railways has issued a warning to passengers travelling along the region. “There is a likelihood of change in the pattern of train services in this region in the next three days in the interest of safety as Hudhud is likely to bring forth heavy winds/rainfall,” South Central Railway said in a statement. East Coast Railway that spans Odisha and north coastal Andhra Pradesh, cancelled 37 train services and diverted 31 others on 11 and 12 October. Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday spoke to the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana on the steps being taken to deal with the situation. Singh assured the chief ministers of help from the Centre. “The Centre is closely monitoring the progression of Hudhud, which is expected to hit the coast in the next 24 hours,” Singh said. Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were lashed by Cyclone Phallin around a year ago. Though human casualties were minimal, Odisha suffered significant damage to crops and houses. Read more at: livemint/Politics/TSNaSf8iQN3jdx8tGndwcM/Cyclone-Hudhud-to-make-landfall-in-Visakhapatnam-on-12-Oct.html?utm_source=copy
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:52:11 +0000
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