Montha Crosses AP Coast, to Weaken in Next 6 Hrs

IMD said the disembarkation process was completed between 23.30 and 12.30. Even after crossing the coast, Montha maintained its intensity as a severe cyclonic storm as it moved inland at a speed of 12 km per hour. The system is expected to move north-northwestward over Telangana and intensify into a cyclonic storm near Chhattisgarh by Wednesday afternoon.

High winds continued to affect many areas, with speeds ranging from 85 to 95 km per hour. Due to the impact of the cyclone, heavy rains were recorded on the coasts of Andhra Pradesh. The highest rainfall in the last 12 hours was 23 cm in Kavali in Nellore district, followed by 17 cm in Ulavapadu and 15 cm in Chirala.

A red alert has been issued for all districts in coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. IMD has warned of heavy to very heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in the next 24 hours due to the impact of the system.

According to the latest observation update released by IMD at 12.30 am, the severe storm will weaken into a cyclonic storm in the next six hours. The landfall process began when the storm crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam around Kakinada.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday said that 11,396 people have been evacuated and 30 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRF) and five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed as part of the response to Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) ‘Montha’.

After chairing a high-level meeting to assess the state’s preparedness for Montha, CM Majhi said eight districts of South Odisha – Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur – were “probably the worst-hit districts” and added that the state government was “fully prepared to deal with this situation”.

The chief minister said the state government was committed to the “zero casualties” policy. CM Majhi said, “As always, our target is zero casualties. We have prepared 2,040 cyclone and flood affected areas to evacuate people.” he said.

“We have evacuated 11,396 people so far. We are monitoring the situation and preparing to evacuate more than 30,000 people… We have deployed a total of 30 ODRF, 123 fire brigade teams and five NDRF teams. We have also kept more teams on alert,” CM Majhi added.

GMR Airports said more than 35 flights between Shamshabad in Telangana and Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry airports in Andhra Pradesh were canceled in the wake of Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) Montha.

A total of 30 IndiGo, two Air India and five Air India Express flights were canceled due to SCS Montha’s approach to the Andhra Pradesh coast around Kakinada.

Hurricanes are caused by atmospheric disturbances around an area of ​​low pressure characterized by rapid and often destructive air circulation. Hurricanes are often accompanied by severe storms and bad weather conditions. Air circulates inward counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.