Cyclone ‘Montha’ to Make Landfall in Kakinada; Red and Orange Alerts Issued in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The deep depression formed in the southeast Bay of Bengal is now rapidly gaining strength. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the system is moving in a northwesterly direction at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour and is heading towards the coast. As of 10 pm on Sunday night, it was located about 670 km west of Port Blair, 720 km east-southeast of Chennai, 790 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, and 900 km south-southeast of Gopalpur.

Will take the form of a cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours

According to the latest IMD report, in the next 12 hours the system will move west-northwestwards into "Cyclone Montha" over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal. After this, it will move towards the northwest and take the form of a "severe cyclone" by the morning of 28 October. It will cross the coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh on the evening or night of October 28. At the time of hitting the land, the wind speed will be 90-100 km per hour, while gust winds can reach up to 110 km per hour.

Meteorologists predict that the storm will be known as "Montha," named by Thailand. After landfall, it will move towards Jagdalpur-Raipur in Andhra Pradesh and adjoining parts of Chhattisgarh. If the route passes through Malkangiri, the intensity of winds may further increase in Ganjam, Gajapati, Nuapada, and Kalahandi.

Red-orange alert, heavy rain alert in Odisha

Changes in the weather of Odisha have started from Monday morning due to the impact of a possible storm. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in the Koraput, Malkangiri, Navrangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Gajapati, and Rayagada districts. Orange alert continues in Puri, Ganjam, and Gajapati with winds of 30-50 kmph.

There is a red alert for winds of 60-80 kmph and heavy rain in Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Malkangiri, and Koraput from 8:30 am on October 28 to October 29. Orange alert is in force in Navrangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Khurda, and Puri with winds of 50-70 kmph. Red alert will also continue in Rayagada, Malkangiri, Koraput, Navrangpur, and Kalahandi in the next 24 hours.

Heavy rain may start in Gajapati, Rayagada, Ganjam, Khurda, and Puri from the afternoon of 27th October. There will be widespread rainfall over coastal areas on October 28-29, while western Odisha will be affected on October 29-30.

Fishermen advised to stay away from sea, danger signs at ports

The Meteorological Department has warned of winds of 40-50 km per hour along the South Odisha coast from the evening of October 27, 60-80 km per hour (South Odisha), and 50-60 km per hour (North Odisha) from October 28 to the morning of October 29. Fishermen have been advised not to go to sea till October 29. Danger signal number 1 continues for all ports of Odisha.
The Puri district administration has imposed a temporary ban on bathing on the beach from October 27 to 29. IMD has issued warning of heavy rainfall and rough seas in coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka

State governments on high alert, disaster management active

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has put the administration on high alert by issuing a red-orange alert for 23 districts. The Odisha government has started evacuating people from vulnerable areas and deployed 128 disaster response teams in 8 districts. There is a warning of heavy rain for the Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka also.

Meteorologist Professor Surendranath Pashupalak said that the landfall process will be completed on October 28 from 6 pm to 10 pm. IMD has advised fishermen to return to the coast immediately. It is the first cyclonic storm of the season, which could cause flooding and crop damage in Southeast Asia.