Cyclone Montha makes landfall in Andhra, rain pounds Odisha

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm started at 7 pm and was expected to cross the land between Kakinada and Machilipatnam with wind speed up to 100 km per hour. The state government suspended the movement of vehicles on roads in the cyclone-affected districts, including Krishna, Eluru and Kakinada, from 8.30pm on Tuesday to 6am on Wednesday. Emergency medical services will be exempted, PTI reported.

Earlier in the day, districts of Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Konaseema, Krishna, West Godavari, and Vizianagaram were pounded by heavy rain, along with wind speeds of up to 80 km per hour. A red alert has been issued for these districts.

Due to the impact of the cyclone, standing crops in as many as 38,000 hectares, and horticulture crops in 1.38 lakh hectares were destroyed.

Nearly 76,000 people were moved to relief camps while the government arranged 219 medical camps at various places.

The Indian Railways cancelled, diverted and rescheduled multiple trains across the Waltair Division of East Coast Railway Zone on Tuesday. Similarly, the South Central Railway (SCR) Zone cancelled 120 trains in total on Monday and Tuesday, said an official.

All 32 flights operating out of Visakhapatnam Airport were cancelled on Tuesday owing to the severe cyclonic storm Montha.

With the power supply expected to be knocked out by the powerful winds, rapid response crews have been positioned at various places with mobile transformers/gensets on standby.

Eleven NDRF and 12 SDRF teams have been positioned for rescue, evacuation and flood response, officials said.

Fire Services, swimmers, OBM boats, life jackets, and emergency equipment were placed across coastal zones. Community kitchens have been activated in several cyclone shelters to ensure hot meals and care for children, the elderly, and vulnerable families.

The state government has advised people to avoid travel in coastal districts during this period and follow advisories from the police and administrations.

In Odisha, heavy downpour and thunderstorm lashed parts of south Odisha such as Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Malkangiri districts.

Met department sources said more than 9cm of accumulated rainfall was recorded in the affected districts and the rain would continue on Wednesday.

There are reports of tree uprooting, road blockage due to landslide and damage to kutcha houses from some pockets of Gajapati district due to heavy downpour.

Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday reviewed the preparedness of the administration and asked officials to ensure safety of people on priority. He said that over 2,000 cyclone shelters were set up to accommodate the affected people and the government has set the ‘zero casualty’ goal. Over 12,000 people from vulnerable areas have already been shifted to shelters. Schools and Anganwadi centres across 11 districts have been shut by the administration.

(With PTI inputs)