Cyclone Montha LIVE updates: Deep depression over the Bay intensifies into cyclonic storm

The Odisha government began evacuating people from vulnerable places on Sunday and deployed 128 disaster response teams in eight districts as the IMD predicted that a cyclonic storm would form by the next morning as a deep depression gains strength in the Bay of Bengal.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said that although the cyclone will make landfall near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, about 200 km from Odisha’s Malkangiri, 15 districts of the eastern state will be affected by the impending disaster and eight of them are likely to experience very heavy rains and strong winds.

The minister said ‘red alert’ (take action) has been issued for Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts, predicting extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds (up to 80 km per hour).

As a precautionary measure, the state government has deployed over 5,000 highly skilled personnel in 24 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), five from NDRF and 99 Fire Brigade teams in these eight districts, the minister said, adding that all parts of the state have been directed to prepare with men and machines for rescue operations in case the approaching cyclone changes its trajectory.

– PTI