Heavy rainfall lashed Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday morning in the wake of Cyclone Asani, the Hindustan Times reported. Rough sea conditions were also witnessed in the coastal districts of the state.
The India Meteorological Department has already issued a red alert in Andhra Pradesh. The weather agency issues a red alert when it expects heavy rain with strong winds and thunderstorms.
“Heavy to very heavy rainfall warnings have been issued along with the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh,” K Nagaratna, the head of the meteorological centre in Hyderabad told ANI. “Telangana’s Nalgonda, Suryapet, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam and Mulugu districts are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall.”
Meanwhile, the severe cyclonic storm Asani weakened into a cyclonic storm in the early hours of Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department said.
The storm is likely to come near the coast of Andhra Pradesh later in the day, but is expected to recurve and move towards the Bay of Bengal, according to the weather department.
“It [Cyclone Asani] is very likely to move nearly northwestwards for next few hours and reach west central Bay of Bengal close to Andhra Pradesh coast,” the weather agency said in its latest bulletin. “Thereafter, it is very likely to recurve slowly along Machilipatnam, Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts and emerge into west central Bay of Bengal.”
On Tuesday, several flights were cancelled at the Chennai and Vishakhapatnam airports due to the storm.
Ten flights headed to Chennai, including those originating from Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur and Mumbai, were cancelled. Passengers were informed about the cancellations on Monday, the Chennai Airport Authority said.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Tuesday held a meeting to review the preparedness of the administrations in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha because of the cyclonic storm, PTI reported.
Bhalla directed central ministries and agencies to monitor and be in touch with the administrations of the two states for any help, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The ministry added that nine teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh, while seven teams are on standby. Similarly, 12 teams have been deployed and five kept on standby in West Bengal. One team is stationed in Odisha and 17 teams are on standby there.
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